Cheat Days

Take a break every once in a while. While it's not okay to cheat on tests or in other parts of school, it is okay in dieting. A cheat day provides motivation in hard weeks and a nice break in gentler weeks. It also prevents your body from getting settled into burning only a certain amount of calories per day and therefore causing you to go into starvation mode or experiencing the plateau effect. Of course, keep your cheat meals in moderation. Don't overdo it and eat the whole chocolate cake. Finally, cheat meals help us to forgive ourselves. When we realize one little mess up won't ruin the whole diet, we relax a little and feel less inclined to cheat in between. In that way, we are also more likely to stay on the diet instead of giving up after one small mishap.