Lies the Weight-Loss Industry Tells You Pt. 1

Lie #1

​You can't lose weight without giving up the foods you love.

The Truth

You can still enjoy the foods you love while losing weight.

​When most people think of a healthy lifestyle, they think they have to give up the foods they love and eat broccoli for the rest of their lives. Not true.

I got into great shape while still enjoying pizza and ice cream every single week. How? By planning a "cheat meal" into every week. Almost every Saturday night I get to enjoy my favorite pizza and Coldstone peanut butter ice cream. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach, so I usually look forward to eating an entire pizza on Saturday night then feel full after just one piece.

A weekly cheat meal--not an entire cheat day--keeps you sane. When you're eating healthy and staying fit, you'll often think about those favorite foods, especially when stressed out. But knowing you will enjoy them at a single designated time empowers you to resist the urge to splurge. Treat it as a reward. If you stick to your plan all week, you can enjoy your cheat meal guilt-free!

​Tip: Choose a smaller plate. Science shows that the plate you choose to eat from influences how much you put on it. Switch to a smaller plate, and you could reduce your calories by 20 percent.

​I'm not just offering this cheat meal idea to make you feel better psychologically about eating the foods you love. There's an actual science behind it. Your body needs it. When your body is eating healthy foods all week--salads, veggies, and lean proteins--your metabolism doesn't have to work very hard to digest and metabolize those healthy foods. A cheat meal really ramps up your metabolism and reinvigorates your digestive system. Because pizza, hamburgers, donuts, ice cream, or ​whatever​ you can dream of requires more energy to digest, your body reacts by turning up your metabolism, which actually gets your next week off to a great start.

Now, don't get me wrong. We're talking about one meal, an entrée and a dessert, eaten in one sitting, not an entire buffet of treats spread out over several nights. Used wisely, a cheat meal will help you make progress physically and mentally toward your goal.

The other way to still enjoy foods you love is to satisfy your cravings with healthy alternatives. Most people just don't know about all the ways to substitute healthier foods and still enjoy the same great tastes. And healthier options do not have to be super expensive.

What I did in the beginning of my weight-loss journey was to list out my favorite trigger foods. Chocolate, pizza, and burger are al trigger foods for me. At that point in my life, anytime I would hear the word ​burger​ or ​pizza​ I would give in. The craving is what it is; I had to learn how to satisfy that craving in a healthy way. Instead of avoiding the cravings, I found alternative that taste just like what I wanted. I make pizza myself out the cauliflower crust, turkey pepperoni, fat-free cheese, and marinara sauce. Now I really can't even tell the difference in satisfying a craving with a healthy pizza or typical pizza. The reality is that you're always going to fail in the moment of craving if you don't prepare heathy alternatives beforehand.