The Cheater's Diet sounds like a gimmicky diet, but offers a realistic approach to dieting for some. The Cheaters Diet is similar to the 80-20 principle. Eat healthy foods and exercise the majority of the time and from time to time you can enjoy a little excess and eat high fat, high calorie, and tasty foods. While on most diets, cheating is frowned upon, with the Cheater's Diet- cheating it is recommended and required.

The Cheater's Diet

Generally speaking, the Cheater's Diet requests the dieter to eat healthy, sensible meals during the work week and for 36 hours during the weekend (from 9am Saturday morning to 9pm Sunday night) you can splurge and eat many of the items that you desire. The theory rationalizes that for those that follow these simple rules, not only will one lose weight, but you can also stay healthy and happy.

For the work week, the Cheater's diet recommends a Mediterranean style diet of eating lean meats lots of vegetables, low fat items and foods that are not processed. You should also stick to mono-saturated fats such as olive oil and nuts when cooking or snacking. During the workweek you should also have a regular work out regiment to help build muscle and burn off excess calories. Calorie counts should generally be in the range of 1600 to 1800 per day.

For the weekend, it's cheating time. While the Cheater's Diet does not recommend binging, it does recommend foods that are tasty and generally healthy, but usually high in calories. Some of the foods that are recommended for weekend cheating include: peanut butter, pizza, cheese, ice cream and cinnamon buns.

Pros of the Cheater's Diet

The Cheater's Diet is a realistic approach to dieting. For those that have enough discipline to stay on a diet for part of the week and enjoy food on the weekend, this diet can offer a great lifestyle. The food this diet recommends is generally healthy and with an exercise regiment, you should be able to lose weight and build muscle.

Cons of the Cheater's Diet Unfortunately, most people find themselves dieting because they cheated too often. While a great concept, it might be hard for many individuals to turn on and off their dieting. In addition, while the Cheater's Diet recommends cheating, it asks that you cheat with sensible foods. Unfortunately, many dieters will sway widely from sensible foods when on the cheating days of the diet. As always, consult with a physician before starting any diet or exercise program.