By Joel Marion, CISSN, NSCA-CPT 
“Arghhhhhhh!”
Ever feel this way? Or maybe a better question is: Ever been on a diet?
Why is dieting so psychologically draining?
Well, for one, it requires change in a major area of our lives—the way we eat—and for most of us, change is a very uncomfortable thing.
Fact is, changing old habits and forming new ones is never an easy task; however, with dieting, it becomes exceedingly difficult given all of the physical adaptations that occur (which we will soon discuss).
Consider what happens in your mind when you go on a diet.
Almost immediately you are faced with an array of cravings. Just the sight or smell of food mentally adds to your already present hunger pangs. You find yourself craving foods that normally you have no desire to eat.
Every time you come in contact with an “off-limits” food item—whether it be on a television commercial, in a magazine, or physically right in front of you—the battle begins.
Do you give into the temptation to experience immediate pleasure, only to be swarmed by overwhelming guilt shortly soon after? Or do you stick it out and allow the anxiety to increase with every day?
It seems like a lose-lose situation—and it is.
And what if you’re not making as much progress as you had hoped? What if you’re seemingly doing everything right and the scale just isn’t moving?
Feelings of frustration, discouragement, and even depression emerge, making you even more inclined to break your diet.
I mean, who wants to sacrifice without being rewarded? At least when you bite into a chocolate chip cookie, the taste is satisfying. But working hard to reap no return on investment? Well that, that just flat out sucks.
There has to be a better way—and fortunately, there is.
The simple truth is this: “diets” can’t work.
If you tried ‘em and failed, you’re just like 99% of the rest of the world, myself included: normal.
You see, any time you restrict calories, you literally “program” your body to fight against your every effort to lose weight.
Not quite making sense? Time for a little history lesson.
Think back for just a minute to the time in which our ancestors roamed the earth. You know, the hunter and gather, feast and famine type days.
For those individuals, survival was king, and in order to survive, they had to do the whole “eating” thing just like us.
Unfortunately, things weren’t quite as easy for this group as they are today. No supermarkets. No drive-through meal deals. Instead, when our primitive ancestors wanted a nice steak, they had to go find it.
This inevitably meant that there were plenty of instances in which our yester-year counterparts went without food for days at a time. And at other times, namely during the winter months, their bodies were forced to get by on very little daily food and calories.
And the reason why they didn’t die? There’s only one—the body’s natural defense against starvation.
Don’t get enough calories for an extended period of time? No problem, the body simply causes ”bad” hormones, fat storage enzymes, and hunger to all increase while “good” hormones, metabolism, and fat burning enzymes all take a dive.
Enter “starvation mode”.
Friend to our ancestors; anything but to the dieter.
You see, dieting, although planned, is nothing more than a lesser degree of premeditated starvation.
Go on a diet—any diet—and it wont be long until the body begins fighting for every ounce of your body fat. You want to lose it; it wants to keep it. And guess what? It wins every time.
Sad scenario, I know.
But what if there was some way to “trick” your body into thinking you aren’t dieting when you actually are?
What if you could essentially “block” the body from entering starvation mode, keeping fat burning at its highest point, week after week?
Well, you can.
And even better news—you can do it by strategically “cheating” on your diet with all your favorite foods.
Is it apple pie that you crave? Chocolate chip cookies (like me)? Or maybe just the freedom to order whatever you want from your favorite restaurant’s menu? Whatever it is, believe it or not, you can actually use those foods to help you lose fat faster.
But it needs to be very strategic, and with Cheat Your Way Thin, that’s exactly what I teach you how to do.
“So how does strategic cheating override the starvation protection mechanism?”
That’s a good question, and one I’m more than happy to answer.
You see, it takes the body about one week of calorie restriction to substantially trigger “starvation mode” and perpetuate the negative adaptations we discussed previously (decreased metabolism, slowed/stalled fat loss, etc).
On the other hand, it takes a much shorter period of time to reverse these trends via strategic practices of “overfeeding” or dietary “cheating”.
Essentially, by incorporating bursts of strategic cheating like I teach in Cheat Your Way Thin, you can literally turn your metabolism into your fat burning slave by ensuring you always have an internal environment primed for burning fat—and you do it with your favorite foods.
Oh, and did I mention just how HUGE that is psychologically?
Thinking back, I can remember when I used to “cheat” only to quickly be overwhelmed by feelings of guilt and failure. Never again. Now when I cheat, it’s planned. And each time I do, I walk away knowing that I just accelerated my progress.
Frankly, it doesn’t get much better than knowing that you just USED your Thanksgiving Dinner AND dessert to speed along fat loss.
Anxiety? Nope. When cravings arise, there is major comfort in knowing that you’ll be able to enjoy that very food in just a few short days when your next cheat session rolls around.
Feelings of discouragement and decreased motivation? Definitely with other diets, but with Cheat Your Way Thin, you’ll actually be excited to step on the scale week after week to view the consistent, steady progress that regular, strategic cheating yields.
Simply put, strategic cheating solves the dietary dilemma by providing you with powerful metabolic benefits and perhaps even more powerful psychological ones.
Finally, a diet that actually WORKS.
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If you don't have a plan this Holiday season, you're gonna get crushed. I think having a strategy for cheating your way through the next month is awesome.
If you want to cheat your way through the holidays this year, and actually LOSE a massive amount of body fat (while everyone else is stuck gaining it), then be sure to pick up the full "blueprint" while it's still less than half price:
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And get ready for your first BIG Cheat Day tomorrow — Thanksgiving Day!
To a happier, fuller, leaner you this holiday season =)
Josh
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