Hi ,

There are 2 fundamental ways to approach occasions you eat out:

1. From an abundance perspective: 

"This is just another meal. I can eat foods I like whenever I want anyway. I'll eat what my body needs and stop after that."

2. From a scarcity perspective: 

"This is my only chance to enjoy a good meal. I never get to eat nice food. I'm going to eat as much as I can and make the most of this opportunity."

Whichever approach is your default will be a major determinant towards weight loss success. Everyone tends to lean towards one of these.

If you derive a huge reward response from eating tasty food, it is more likely for you to overindulge compared to someone who doesn't get a similar reward response from eating.

If your tendency is towards a scarcity based approach to eating out, this will be worsened by restrictive diets which cut out on enjoyable foods completely. Every occasion to eat out would now be a "cheat meal"; a no-holds-barred feast.

Do this 3-4 times a month and you'd have negated any weight loss efforts you make starving yourself for the remaining days.

This pattern is what keeps most people stuck in perpetual loops of losing and gaining the same few kilos of weight over and over.

What's the solution then?

It is to understand that an on-off approach to losing weight is unsustainable long-term. Cheat meals and scarcity eating mindsets reinforce bad behaviour patterns.

So instead of helping you, they end up putting you in an even more precarious situation.

If you'd like to know of a better approach to losing weight, listen to this episode on problems with cheat meals and the associated mindset:

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

Until next time.

Cheers!

-Ajitesh