The Difference Between Cheating and Breaking Your Diet

This has not been my best day.

I stumbled out of bed at 3:30am to catch a flight, work a full fast paced day upon landing in PA, then stumbling to my rental car in order to drive to get some much needed dinner.

After a whole 5min of looking, I booked it into a pizza shop and ate three giant ass slices. Immediately, I feel like shit. This wasn't some planned cheat meal used to restock glycogen or break a carb fast. This was me feeling depressed and too lazy to get a meat salad at the grocery store next door. I wanted to talk briefly about the difference between deviations from your diet. One plays a purpose, the other throws you off the rails.

Cheating on your diet plays a purpose. It refuels you, it allows you to let go and enjoy some decadence with friends (who usually look at you like you are a weirdo when you pass on every pizza and cake passed around), and reminds you that you can use food for pleasure rather than enjoyment periodically without any major detriment to your goals or health.

Breaking your diet has no purpose. It is filling a void, or replacing emotion with sugar and salt. 100% of the time I feel guilty after breaking my diet. Not just because I know I've set myself back days of hard work, but because I know I would have felt immeasurably better if I had just stuck to my plan and eaten like a human being.

Be a cheater, not a breaker. Get stronger.