The Top 4 Times People Cheat On Their Diets

In an ideal world, you on a diet would mean you living in a tropical paradise, with all the time you need to get plenty of rest, de-stress, and focus on your health. But as we all know, the Zen diet doesn't really exist—between work, working out, and keeping up with your friends and family, life often gets in the way of your healthy-eating plan.  Knowing this, British researchers set out to find which exact life situations make you want to cheat on your diet the most. And the results, which are published in the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine, indicate that you're most tempted to stray from your healthy-eating plan when (a) it's late at night, (b) you're tired, (c) alcohol is involved, or (d) you're hanging out with friends.

So, how'd the researchers come up with this list? They asked 80 dieters, mostly women, to track their temptations for a seven-day period. The participants took to their phones during these moments of weakness to record what they were thinking and if they actually cheated on their plans. Turns out, they gave in to their temptation just over half the time.
 
Luckily, there are ways to resist these temptations—no matter which one you're dealing with. Just find out what to do if your friends are tempting you, if you're craving late-night eats, if you're at happy hour, or if you're exhausted and feel you need those chips to stay awake. 

MORE: 6 Signs Your Diet is Too Extreme

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