Cheating on a skin healing diet is subject that I am asked about often. People want to know if having a cheat meal every once in a while is going to ruin their progress and if I personally ever cheat on my diet. This blog post is intended to answer those questions while exploring the nuances within the topic of cheating.

So, is it ok to have cheat meals on your psoriasis and eczema healing diet? If you are serious about reversing your skin disease and want to do everything you can to ensure that you heal effectively, your best bet is to completely avoid cheating. With that said, cheating is a rather broad term and everyone is different in terms of what they can handle both physically and psychologically. 

Some steps that you can take to keep your cheating habits under control and manage cravings are to 1. Develop a new perspective on food 2. Understand your personal psychological response to cheating 3. “Cheat” with whole foods 4. Limit temptation and 5. Learn what you should do if you do cheat. 

What about me? Do I ever cheat on my diet? The answer to that question would be hardly ever. As time goes on, the more and more I crave the nutritious whole foods that have granted me with clear skin and optimum health. Although you won’t find me eating a delivery pizza or a bowl of ice cream, I have definitely danced with the topic of cheating over the years. The following sections are a reflection of what I’ve learned through my personal experience and the experiences of others. 

Develop a new perspective on food 

The biggest reason why I believe that you should never (or very rarely) cheat on your diet is because natural skin healing requires a certain degree of behavioral change. If you don’t make a fundamental change to the way that you perceive food and the purpose that it serves, your skin will never heal. The only real way to make a long term change to your dietary behaviors is to develop a new and improved perspective on food. 

In my opinion, the feeling of constant good health and clear skin is much more satisfying and rewarding than the feeling you get for a couple minutes or so when you are eating that cheeseburger or pizza. There are so many delicious whole food options to choose from that there really is no need for any food that is going to discourage proper digestion and set you back in terms of your healing process. You shouldn’t have to look forward to one tasty dirty pleasure once a week or month. Your every day diet should be built on delicious whole foods that satisfy your taste buds. 

If you need assistance in beginning to develop this new perspective, click here to download my free guide titled “Heal Psoriasis, Eczema, and Dermatitis Naturally With a Clear Perspective on Food.” This is a very simple and straight-forward guide based on what to eat and what not to eat in order to heal your skin disease naturally. If you need some insight into how to build a gut healing diet based on nutritious whole foods, downloading this guide is a great place to start.

Understand the psychological impact of cheating

Another point to consider here is the psychological impact that cheating has on an individual. In my experience, it has become very clear to me that the longer I stay away from certain things, the easier it ultimately becomes to avoid them. The reason that this is true is because taste buds are extremely adaptable and your body naturally craves what you are feeding it. By understanding this principle of adaptation, you can empower your mind to fight through any cravings you may have as you understand where they have derived from.

If you are transitioning from say a standard American diet for example to eating a strictly whole foods diet, you are likely to go through a series of intense cravings as your body is undergoing a sort of physiological change. These cravings are a response to you eliminating unhealthy foods from your diet. As time goes on, the strength of these cravings will diminish as your body adjust to your new new way of eating. 

Another psychological factor to consider is the fact that every time you cheat, you are reintroducing those negative foods back to your system which can re-initiate those cravings and may cause you to cheat again and again. This is another point that I have a strong personal connection with. Although I always felt that I was good at getting myself back on track after a cheat, cheating once definitely did increase the urge to continue to cheat. 

So, if you are the type of person who can cheat every once in a while and then get yourself back on track, then maybe you can get away with a having a cheat meal once or twice a month. Just know, you’re better off without it. 

“Cheat” with whole foods

When I do cheat, I choose to cheat with foods that are within the framework of my diet. What that means is that although I may be eating a meal or a snack that is not a typical part of my diet and may not be the simplest thing to digest, I am still sticking to eating whole foods for the most part. 

For instance, one cheat meal I will make for myself from time to time is pancakes that are made out of eggs, bananas, cinnamon, whole grain flour, and almond milk. I also eat them with organic maple syrup and use olive oil in the pan for non-stick purposes. 

The biggest reason why I consider this a cheat meal is due to the fact that it is high in carbs/sugars and fat at the same time which is definitely not how most of your meals should be structured. Your meals should be either high in fat or high in carbs, not both. When you mix too much fat and too many carbs (especially sugar) this can have some negative effects on your digestion and ultimately trigger your disease. 

At the end of the day, people cheat because they are trying to satisfy a craving that they are having. My best advice would be to take whatever craving you are having and recreate that unhealthy food option with whole foods. There is a delicious combination of whole foods that can substitute for any unhealthy junk food you may be craving. 

If you are craving something sweet a dessert-like, skip the cakes or cookies and make yourself some nut butter toast on sprouted whole grain bread with some fruit, cinnamon, and honey on top. If you are craving a pizza, find some cauliflower crust or make your own and load it up with a bunch of veggies, some organic sauce, and maybe some grass fed beef if you are eating a high fat diet. 

Limit temptation

This is where many people including myself have the most trouble avoiding cheat meals. Sure, it’s easy to eat right when you are at home and your kitchen is stocked with all of the healthy foods that you love. You actually like eating this way and don’t even think about cheating when you’re at home. But what happens when you are out and about and hunger strikes and there doesn’t seem to be any whole food options in sight?

The first way to combat this situation is to avoid putting yourself in that situation in the first place. Now, this is not to say that you should lock yourself in your house at all times and never go anywhere. You should get out. Food is not everything and you still have to find ways to fulfill yourself and live the best life that you possibly can. You just need to learn how to be prepared for such situations. 

My advice for avoiding putting yourself in a situation where you may feel like you have to eat something that you know you shouldn’t would be to make sure that you are well fed before you leave the house or plan ahead and bring a little snack along with you. I understand that this is easier said than done in some cases. But there are certainly ways to get out and experience things without compromising your diet. Don’t use going out as an excuse to cheat. There are ways around it. 

I cheated. Now what?

Ok, so for whatever reason you cheated on your diet. You may be feeling a little down on yourself and want to know what you can do to best counteract this cheat meal and effectively get yourself back on track.What you should do is simple. Just get back on track. Don’t overthink it and don’t punish yourself mentally. Just pick up where you left off. 

Another thing you can do is to do a short fast after a cheat meal so that you can ensure that you are giving your body enough time to fully digest and recover. So if you eat something bad for dinner one night, spend the following day simply drinking water and push your first meal back until further in the day. Maybe you could fast until 5 pm or so and then break your fast with a green juice followed by a nutrient dense me and then get back to your normal eating schedule the next day. Give your body the opportunity to detoxify. 

I definitely don’t think that having a cheat meal is the end of the world. Although it is going to have a negative effect of your gut health in the short term, ONE cheat is probably not going to completely ruin your progress. With that said, I maintain my stance that you really should avoid cheating at all costs as it is not necessary and can certainly hinder your progress (especially if it becomes a habit). Like I said, there are way too many delicious nutrient dense whole foods out there to be giving into unhealthy temptations. Consistency is absolutely essential in natural healing. Transform your relationship with food and experience the amazing benefits of properly nourishing your body.