Whether you are trying to lose weight or you are choosing to eat a little healthier you will probably have noticed how hard it is to stay away from your favourite foods. But you don’t have to go completely cold turkey when it comes to the odd treat, there are healthy ways of getting your sugar fix and there are even ways of including something truly naughty into your diet plan. It’s all about finding the balance.
Recently an article written on Are They on Steroids sparked a little debate within the weight loss community. Is it really ok to consume junk food when you are on a diet? The answer, whilst there is a lot more to it than this, was a simple yes. By keeping your calorie count below your calorie requirements you could eat nothing but junk food and still see yourself losing weight. The article does go on to cover the health implications of a processed only diet but it raises some interesting points.
Weight loss diets are all about calories and deficit, take a look at our earlier article on the 8 most asked diet questions. This gives you a little bit of room to play when it comes to having a cheat day. The aim is to not go over the specified calories you need in a day to keep your body working. If you come below that amount you are on track to losing weight, when you hit your goal? You consume the calories you need and will maintain weight. It is possible to head out for that delicious burger you have been lusting after, providing it doesn’t take you over your magic figure. There are ways you can ensure this doesn’t happen. The calories in most vegetables are very low, so bulking up on steamed vegetables and salads can help keep you full whilst lowering your daily intake, giving you a little room to squeeze in a delicious treat.
Healthy eating diets are a little tough to cheat around, but totally possible. The idea of healthy eating is to focus on your well being and health first and your weight will reduce as a bi-product. These diets tend to push out anything processed and focus on natural ingredients that have had no human intervention, other than pulling them from the ground or preparing them. To get treats this way you have to work around those few ground rules. Raw Cacao is a brilliant way of bringing a little chocolate into your life. Chocolate nibs can be added to various recipes to give your sweet tooth a treat, for example melting them into warmed soya or oat milk for an alternative hot chocolate.
It is also possible to recreate some naughty greats such as tacos, by replacing the taco shell with lettuce leaves and the meat with minced turkey.
There are loads of ways you can enjoy a varied and sometimes naughty diet, however you are choosing to diet. The best diet? Is a healthy balanced one. So give yourself a break every now and again.
