The Flat Tire Phenomenon

Your diet is going great. You’ve been solid for close to two weeks, and the results are starting to show. However, you’re beginning to get cravings for donuts and cakes and cakes made out of donuts.

You do your best to maintain your composure, but you finally give in and eat two Krispy Kreams.

You choked. The ball was dropped.

So, how do you react? Do you go back on your diet as soon as possible? No! You continue to stuff your face with everything that doesn’t fight back.

After all, since you’ve blown your diet, you might as well go hog wild and start again tomorrow on solid ground.

Big mistake. If you got a flat tire, would you go spike the three others with your trusty pocket knife? God, I hope you aren’t that dumb!

Well, continuing to pile on the junk after one cheat is about as smart.

While I’m never proud of clients who give in to temptation, a small, isolated culinary incident won’t completely ruin your efforts. At worst, it’ll put you back a day or two.

But if you turn that one nutritional brain fart into an all-out feast, you’re going to put a huge dent in your progress. After such a binge, it’ll take you around two days just to get back into an optimal fat burning mode. And I’m not even talking about the fat gain from the binge itself. A big food fest can set you back one or even two weeks!

Unplanned cheats are like a flat tire: You don’t want them, but they might happen (even to the strongest of wills). Just limit the damage by going right back to your regular plan.

Write up by Christian Thibaudeau