We hear this all the time about doing the right thing in society. Our culture values doing the right thing, because we all know that doing the right thing isn’t always the easy thing. However, this applies not only to morality issues, but to your lifestyle and nutrition. Only in these realms, doing the wrong thing generally only affects you negatively.

When you cheat on your diet by eating something that goes against your eating plan, you are going against your own best interest. To take it a step further, you are actually sabotaging your progress. Cheating is defined as gaining an unfair advantage over a competitor. In adopting a healthy lifestyle, you are your own competitor, yet you don’t gain any advantage over yourself when you eat foods that are not a part of your healthy diet. In fact, in many cases, you are actually hurting your progress, your willpower, and your future ability to stick with your diet when you eat non-diet foods. This, in my opinion, is sabotage.

It’s hard to do the right thing, and it’s hard to say no to treats when you’re used to eating them. It’s hard to slow down your eating, and it’s hard to limit your portion sizes to something reasonable. It’s hard to give up sweet drinks, alcohol, and foods you’ve been used to eating your entire life. I know all this, because I live it. Even today, three years after I gave up eating grains, I still miss them.

But I don’t miss being overweight, bloated, out of shape, and unhealthy. I much prefer how I feel now: fit, healthy, and able to tackle anything both mentally and physically. I can do this now because I eat right and I get exercise. It’s not easy, but it’s worthwhile, it’s satisfying, and most of all, it’s the right thing to do.