Diet 'Cheat Day' Rules

Additional Info

• Segment Number: 3
• Audio File: healthy_talk/1518ht4c.mp3
• Featured Speaker: Chazz Weaver, MA
• Book Title: The O.C. Diet Revolution
• Guest Website: Chazz Live
• Guest Bio: Dieting Counselor and Fitness Coach, Chazz Weaver, M.A., is the Founder of ChazzLive.com, a streaming health and fitness video network. Chazz holds both a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree from UCLA and Syracuse Universities and is a PhD Candidate in Psychology, pursuing his interest in the mental health aspects of weight loss. With over 30 years of experience in fitness training and weight loss coaching, Chazz Weaver has been interviewed by ABC News, Fox News, the Los Angeles Times, CBS News Radio, GoodMorningAmerica.com and many others.
• Transcription: RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 30, 2015
  Host: Michael Smith, MD
  
  Healthy Talk with Dr. Michael Smith, MD. And now, here's the country doctor with the city education, Dr. Mike:
  
  DR. MIKE: So, what are the do's and don'ts of cheating on your diet? My guest is Chazz Weaver who does say cheating on your diet can actually be beneficial if you do it in the right way. He has a great website ChazzLive.com and holds a couple of Master's degrees. He's a Ph.D. candidate in psychology; he is about 60 years old and in my last segment Chazz said to go to his site. So, I did, Chazz. I went to your site ChazzLive.com and what pops up is a very young, very muscular looking 60-year-old guy. Is that you?
  
  CHAZZ: That's me.
  
  DR. MIKE: (laughing) Well, listen. That's important, right? I think it's easy to talk about things but you're actually living the lifestyle and this website looks really interesting. Tell us a little bit about just real quickly--maybe a minute or so--about how you got started in all this the stuff that you do.
  
  CHAZZ: Well, it's quite interesting and, this was in my late teens--right out of high school about a year or so--and I kind of got into the labor market, if you will, and doing construction that kind of stuff and what happened is I went to go play a game of basketball with some friends.
  
  Now my mind was still telling me I was this kid in high school but my body sure told me it no longer was, just after being out of high school a year, year and a half. So back then, we didn't really have the information on fitness that we do today, so I started researching and looking into getting in shape and the more I did, the more I found out the long-term benefits that I could really derive from being in shape. Interesting thing, Dr. Mike is that during my 20's, 30's and even into my 40's people would say "Oh, you're just a young kid, wait 'til you get older!" Well now that I'm 60 and generally people start to—
  
  DR. MIKE: You can't say that anymore! (laughing)
  
  CHAZZ: Exactly. Well maybe he knows something that I don't know. And it's not extremes and so that's the reason I got into it for personal benefit long-term. And then as you see some of the older people...
  
  DR. MIKE: Yes. ChazzLive.com.
  
  Let's go—so you sent me a nice little list of do's and don'ts when it comes to the cheating meal, which we already talked about, and the benefits of that. It actually may help with their diet more. Don't deny yourself the flavors and textures you like. Have that reward once in a while, but it needs to be controlled. We're not talking about bingeing.
  
  Why don't we do this? Why don't we just quickly—let's see. I think you sent me 1,2,3,4 do's: do cheat at night, do cheat with carbs, do schedule your cheat, and do know your tolerance. Why don't we just go through those in the next couple minutes, Chazz? Talk about cheating at night. Why is that a do?
  
  CHAZZ: Well, the do at night is more because don't do during the day. At night, you're already at home; you're going to be going to bed in a while; you wind up with this cheat meal; you're nice and satisfied and then, all of a sudden, you're going to wind up going to sleep at night and then you get back up on the same track.
  
  DR. MIKE: I see it now. Chazz, I read this—Okay, this is kind of funny. I was thinking there was some...Being the medical doctor, I'm always thinking about physiology and is there something with—I read here "cheating at the end of the day reduces the risk of cheating again later". I mean, that's pretty much it, right?
  
  CHAZZ: Yes. I try to keep it as simple as I can Dr. Mike (laughing).
  
  DR. MIKE: (laughing) I'm the one that tries to complicate everything.
  
  CHAZZ: And, really, when we look at it like that, because I've seen it over the course of years, people who generally wind up cheating in the morning or the afternoon have a higher probability of keeping that cheat meal and moving it into "cheat day" if you will. So, if we look at it at night and this comes back to the psychology as well as the physiology of it, you lower that probability of extending that cheat meal beyond where it should be.
  
  DR. MIKE: Yes. What about do cheat with carbs? That's going to sound crazy for some people what do you mean by that?
  
  CHAZZ: Yes and, again, I go back to the way that people restrict their calories and, again, the human body is so efficient, it's going to get used to it, one. And then, two, it's just going to drain itself from its own stores. Well, carbohydrates, you're going to wind up...And, again, I'm talking some complex carbohydrates. We're not talking necessarily just sugar or straight sugar, if you will. So, with carbohydrates you're going to get that taste that you like, the added sweetness that we crave as humans. But it's also going to help replenish what the muscles have lost while you're also exercising or your activity program during this calorie restrictive diet you're on to lose body fat. So, carbs are actually really great and it's one thing that really helps us with our glycogen level within the muscles as well.
  
  DR. MIKE: What about scheduling the cheat? Now, I think what you mean here is we do want to schedule when we're going to have that cheat meal. So, is it like a consistent one meal a week type thing? Is that what you mean by scheduling the cheat?
  
  CHAZZ: Yes. What you want to do is like anything else. You just don't want to come off the cuff and this even goes back to our eating patterns as humans. You know, we want to schedule how we eat. We need to learn how to eat. Most people think they do but they really don't because they're just eating from instinct. So, by scheduling it you keep everything on track to accomplish your goals. The other part about it is, I was mentioning before our break, is that for me and where I'm at with my activity level, I actually cheat about 30% of the time and 70% of the time, I keep food as a tool. So, that's the way I schedule my particular eating patterns out and depending on what I'm doing. Now, let's say I want to lose some more body fat. Well, I'm going to adjust those throughout my life depending on where I want to get to. Does that make sense to you, Dr. Mike?
  
  DR. MIKE: Yes, it did. It did. What about this: "Do know your tolerance"? Do you mean by the types—if I know I'm—like, I love cheese, Chazz. If I was ever on a diet, I would probably somehow in my cheat meal have a lot of cheese but I have to know I could overdo that. Is that what you mean by knowing kind of your boundaries a little bit? Am I on the right track?
  
  CHAZZ: Yes, you are because a lot of people will wind up almost kind of like a food addiction, if you will, to certain foods and so, what you want to avoid—and, again, this is not for your entire life. It's to get to your goal that you want to get to. And what you want to do is, you want to avoid the foods that actually made you overweight or gain a lot of body fat. So, if you have a propensity, as you just stated, to cheese you may want to stay away from it. You want to really know yourself.
  
  DR. MIKE: But I like it so much, Chazz.
  
  CHAZZ: Ah! Well, again, I'm not saying "don't". I'm just saying know your tolerance, though.
  
  DR. MIKE: I watch it though. Listen, I do watch my calories. I control what I eat but I like the texture and taste, so I enjoy a little cheese once in a while. This brings us to the first "don't" that you listed, by the way. So, you have "don't" cheat with foods that made you fat, right? I mean, that makes sense.
  
  CHAZZ: Correct.
  
  DR. MIKE: So, if I was overeating cheese that would be the one thing that I would have to start eliminating?
  
  CHAZZ: Correct and I saw your picture. You're in great shape. I saw that. It's awesome but you take somebody, let's say, 40 or 50 pounds overweight and they want to get to that goal. It may not be a great idea for them to go ahead and have that cheese. Wait until all of a sudden you've dropped and then introduce it slowly so you don't wind up with those cravings.
  
  DR. MIKE: Let me do this. So, we only have about a minute or so and there's a few more "don'ts". Let me just read the "don'ts" here and we'll see what we can get to. Okay, we just talked about don't cheat with the foods that made you fat. Obviously, got to be careful there. Don't binge. Don't feel guilty. Don't make cheat meals your life. Let's talk about the "don't feel guilty" because that's a tough one for people. You're on a diet. You're not supposed to cheat, Chazz, so, I mean, how do we overcome that?
  
  CHAZZ: That's the big thing. You don't want to feel guilty. So, you want to surround yourself with people that are trying to accomplish the same goal. What I try to tell people is, "Look you want to understand you're allowing yourself to do this and you know what? If you do go off the wagon a little bit, don't harp on it just get back on the next day." So, it's then really important that you don't wind up constantly feeling guilty.
  
  DR. MIKE: Let's leave it there, Chazz. The website is ChazzLive.com. Go check it out right now. Take a look at him. He is really walking the walk, you know? And doing a great job. Thanks for coming on today, Chazz. I appreciate it. Good luck with everything that you're doing.
  
  This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well.
• Length (mins): 10
• Waiver Received: No
• Host: Mike Smith, MD