Brevard Health Source 2016

CAN CHEATERS WIN?
IN THE GAME OF WEIGHT-LOSS, A NEW BOOK TOUTS
CHEAT DAYS TO REV YOUR METABOLISM.
BUT IT MAY NOT BE THE HEALTHIEST STATE OF MIND.
Lisa Lavia Ryan
Des Moines Register
When Ashley Hartkorn was trying
to lose weight a few years
ago, she followed a plan that
advocated the “cheat day”
philosophy. Hartkorn would
adhere to her diet six days a week, but on the
seventh day, she would indulge in all the foods
she had been craving the days before.
“What I learned is that I would take them to
the extreme,” Hartkorn, of Des Moines, Iowa,
said. “Every single Sunday, my cheat day, I
would eat a whole medium pizza, a whole box
of breadsticks and two cans of soda. And that
was just one of my meals on Sunday.”
Despite her once-a-week binges, Hartkorn did
lose weight, but the changes didn’t stick.
“My habits weren’t healthy,” she said. “I’ve
learned since then that if I don’t deprive myself
during the week, I don’t feel the need to binge;
I can feel good about the choices I’m making
instead of feeling like the food is in control.”
Hartkorn isn’t the only dieter to embrace the
“cheat day” philosophy — a newly published
book by “Biggest Loser” trainer Dolvett Quince
bases its premise entirely on the method.
The book, “The 3-1-2-1 Diet — Eat and
Cheat Your Way to Weight Loss,” advocates
that dieters eat “cleanly,” adhering to a
1,500-calorie-a-day diet, for three days,
then follow those days with one “cheat,” or
indulgence, day. After that, he or she follows
with two more “clean” days before ending the
week with one more “cheat” day.
The plan works, Quince maintains, in part
because the body’s metabolism revs up when it
has extra food to digest.
“Indulging a little during the week isn’t
going to ruin your diet; it will actually make
your metabolism work better,” Quince writes.
“Alternating between ‘clean’ and ‘cheat’ days
will confuse your body into optimal fat-burning
performance.”
It sounds too good to be true — so, is it?
At least one Iowa nutritionist isn’t a fan of the
method.
“I don’t like the terms ‘cheat days’ and ‘clean
days’ — I advocate more of a well-balanced
approach,” Katie Paulson, a clinical dietitian
with Mercy Weight Loss and Nutrition Center in
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