Do you struggle with inconsistent weigh ins where the numbers don't seem to be in line with your efforts? Do you find that your cheat day or meal turns into a cheat weekend? Do you have any symptoms of food addition like emotional eating, cheating by yourself (sometimes in secret), or you "can't just eat just one" fill in the blank here with things like chips, cookies, etc. If you answered YES to any of these questions, then this article is for YOU!

When you start out with the Meltdown program the weekly cheat day becomes a treasured event. You really look forward to that one day of all you can eat fun and relaxation and that is a great thing. 

I've talked a lot about the benefits of the cheat day/meal and why you should incorporate it into your program, but as we progress through a transformation some adjustments must be made to keep the results coming in. One of the simplest adjustments we can make is to only do a cheat day every two weeks, after you weigh in.

This ONE thing will help in the following ways:

-Your weigh ins will be MUCH more consistent. People that cheat every week will not have totally accurate weigh ins if they are still holding bloat and water weight from the previous week's cheat. Some people drop the bloat in only a couple days, others will take up to a week. If you only cheat every two weeks, post weigh in, this is not an issue.

-To avoid making a cheat day magically turn into a cheat weekend I highly recommend that you use Sunday as your weigh in and cheat day every two weeks. If you know that you have to come and see me at the scale on Sunday you will be much more likely to be good all weekend long. Use the other weigh in day options for special scenarios where you know you will have to take a cheat on Friday or Saturday because of a holiday, special event, etc.

-If you can go two weeks in between cheats it will really lessen your addiction to food. The longer you go between cheats the easier it is to fight this issue. It is just like kicking any other bad habit. If you REALLY struggle with food addiction I recommend that you go with four or even eight weeks without cheating and you will notice a huge difference in your power to control this issue.

So what about the week that we don't cheat????? We have two solid options here:

#1. Just follow the plan like normal without a cheat day.

#2: Add a Carb Load day in place of the normal cheat day. You just add a meltdown approved carb selection to each meal and snack of the day except your last one. This will provide a nice mental break from the normal diet and a little calorie boost to keep your metabolism going strong. Your weight will go up for about a day as the extra carbs suck water into your cells, but then your body should return to normal very quickly with plenty of time before the weigh in.

Just remember that the first few times you try this new cheating schedule it may be tough. Your body, and cravings, may give you a fight at first. Eventually it will become the new normal and you will be very happy with the results!

Happy Melting!

Adam