How to Cheat on Your Diet

cheat meal

10 Mar How to Cheat on Your Diet

Posted at 13:45h in Advice by

It might sound odd for a nutritionist to give you tips on how to cheat on your diet, but when it’s done in the right way, strategic treats can lead to a much happier relationship with food and even better weight loss results. Why? Because it’s so much easier to consistently stick to a plan when there is flexibility rather than an all or nothing approach.

At our clinic, we don’t use the word ‘cheat’. Cheating implies doing something wrong and enjoying your favourite foods in a mindful way is far from wrong. It’s one of life’s great pleasures. Instead, we prefer treat; everyone loves a treat.

Here is our four-step guide to including treat meals in your diet.

PLAN IT

Rather than spontaneously over-indulging because you’ve had a bad day, make a plan for your treat meal. Choose a time and situation when you can relax and enjoy it fully. This will help you to feel in control as well as giving you something to look forward to.

It’s also a good idea to plan the frequency of your treat meals. If you’re on a focused weight loss plan then your treats might be limited to once a month. If you’re maintaining your weight, one treat meal a week can work well.

ENJOY IT

Choose something you’re really going to love. Drink the wine. Eat the carbs. Order the dessert. Whatever your thing is, go for it. You want to finish a treat meal feeling like ‘that was absolutely worth it and I enjoyed every mouthful’. That said, it’s important to strike a balance between a little indulgence and not going completely overboard. Remember to eat mindfully, chew your food thoroughly and stop eating when you’re starting to feel full.

DON’T FEEL GUILTY

Making mindful choices to enjoy treat foods shouldn’t leave you feeling guilty. Giving yourself clear guidelines and advanced permission can often help alleviate feelings of guilt. It’s important to nourish the soul as well as the body.

RETURN TO YOUR USUAL HEALTHY DIET AFTER

Things can start to spiral when a treat meal turns into a treat day, which turns into a treat weekend and so on…

Yes, there will be times like birthdays and holidays where you might indulge a little more than usual but for your average week it’s good to stick to just one meal. A routine, like a Friday evening takeaway or meal out, works well for some people. For others, flexibility works better.

It’s important to bear in mind that we are all different. Different treat strategies work for different people and it’s important to take into account where you’re at on your health and / or weight loss journey.

Food should be enjoyed. Healthy food can absolutely be made enjoyable, but chocolate, pizza and pasta are also delicious. Completely depriving yourselves of these foods deprivation is rarely necessary. Whilst diet extremes grab headlines, what we should all really be aiming for is moderation, balance and a healthy relationship with food.

If you’d like our help with optimising your health and reaching your ideal weight while enjoying your food at the same time, please do get in touch.

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LINDA ROBINSON

Linda is our Practice Coordinator, helping to keep the clinic running smoothly.

 

Originally from Texas, Linda completed her MBA at SDA Bocconi in Milan. Linda has worked as a Strategy Consultant across multiple industries globally in cities including Kyoto, Paris, Chicago and San Francisco. She developed an interest in nutrition whilst volunteering for an organisation that provides cooking and nutrition education to children and families.

Linda is now settled in London with her husband, two children, and her very bouncy, sociable dog.

SARAH LAW

Sarah has worked with hundreds of clients over the past decade to help them live in a healthy body that they feel confident in.


Sarah spent a large part of her teens and 20’s as a professional dancer battling with orthorexia and an unhealthy relationship with food and her body. This created a desire to understand the human body more so she could finally cut through the confusion and end the cycle of yoyo dieting. This fuelled her passion to help other women do the same.

 

Sarah specialises in supporting women who are struggling to lose weight due to underlying health issues. She’s helped many women manage their weight during and after the menopause, as well as clients with thyroid disease and immune system dysfunction. Sarah loves food and sharing healthy recipes with her clients. Her aim is to ensure that clients don’t feel deprived and instead, achieve their weight loss and health goals in a positive and sustainable way.

 

To enquire about working with Sarah, please contact us.

AILSA HICHENS

 

Ailsa is one of our most experienced practitioners. She specialises in helping clients to lose weight, develop a healthy relationship with food and finally feel comfortable in their skin. Ailsa’s mission is for everyone she works with to enjoy the journey and that working with a nutritionist should not be a punishment, but your access to a new possibility.

 

Ailsa is not only an experienced weight loss nutritionist, she is also a skilled coach. She helps our clients overcome emotional eating, destructive habits and self-sabotaging behaviours that have prevented successful weight loss in the past. Ailsa has spent years in clinic working with clients who have experienced yo-yo dieting and have discovered that long term weight loss is not just about eating less until you can stand it no longer.

 

Working with Ailsa you will be comprehensively supported, not only in improving your nutrition and lifestyle, but also your eating habits and your relationship with food. When you work on all these elements together, the results can be truly astonishing.

 

To enquire about working with Ailsa, please contact us.

Test Nikki is our Practice Manager, managing our team of practitioners and heading up the day-to-day running of the business. Nikki is involved in the strategic development of our practice, coming from a strong business background in town planning. A Florida girl, Nikki relocated to the UK in 2014 with her husband and two children.

NIKKI ANDRIANI

Nikki is our Practice Manager, managing our team and heading up the day-to-day running of our clinic.

 

Coming from a background in town planning, Nikki is involved in the strategic development of our practice, continually ensuring we are delivering the very best service to our clients.


A Florida girl, Nikki relocated to the UK in 2014 where she lives with her husband, two children, and her rescue dog Skyy.

STÉPHANIE ACHAR

Stéphanie is a skilled nutritional therapist and functional medicine practitioner with additional training in eating disorders, disordered eating and obesity. She believes that working towards both physiological and mental health is key in achieving optimum wellbeing.

 

Stéphanie’s personal experience of emotional eating and the ongoing struggle to find the right support led her to combine the science of nutrition with behavioural coaching to motivate and empower her clients. She specialises in helping people who struggle with their weight and their relationship with food. She helps them develop a healthier and more peaceful relationship with food and their bodies.

 

To enquire about working with Stéphanie, please contact us.

INNA WEARN

Inna is passionate about supporting women on their journey to improved health and wellbeing. She believes that the solution to effective weight loss does not lie in ever more restrictive diets, but a more sophisticated approach that optimises health and vitality, as well as promoting effective weight loss.

 

Working with Inna you will benefit from her in-depth knowledge of female health and hormones. She will support you in developing a healthy diet, lifestyle and mindset that ensures you reach your ideal weight and maintain it in the years to come.

 

Inna is passionate about food with a wide repertoire of delicious healthy recipes and meal ideas to ensure your weight loss journey is as enjoyable as possible!

 

To enquire about working with Inna, please contact us.

ANIA MASON

 

Ania is a firm believer that improving your health and losing weight should be a positive, empowering journey, not one centred around deprivation.

 

After being diagnosed with two autoimmune conditions in her twenties, Ania spent several years educating herself on the power of food and nutrition. She put it all into practise and changed her diet and lifestyle, reversing her endometriosis and thyroid disease. After experiencing such a significant improvement in her health, Ania had a big desire to help others. She embarked on a four year journey to study nutrition, graduating from the Institute for Optimum Nutrition with distinction.

 

Ania specialises in autoimmunity and works with clients who have underlying health issues preventing successful weight loss. Her expertise enables her to successfully support our clients with conditions such as hypothyroidsm (underactive thyroid), PCOS and diabetes. 

 

To enquire about working with Ania, please contact us.

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