The Cheater's Diet

What it is: Dr. Paul Rivas’ book Cheater’s Diet: Lose Weight by Taking the Weekends Off is based on the assumption that if one focuses on healthy eating and exercise throughout the week, a little “cheating” on the weekends will not hurt weight loss efforts. The plan allows dieters to cheat only between 9 am Saturday and 9 pm Sunday.

How it works: The idea behind the Cheater’s diet is that allowing dieters to eat what they want on the weekends prevents the metabolic slowdown that is typical of more restrictive diets. Rivas believes the cheating is essential for weight loss because when you return to your weekday diet, you will be burning optimal calories. He says that the metabolic rate increases over the weekend to burn the excesses calories and therefore continues to burn at a higher rate throughout the week, thus helping you lose weight.

What you do: The weekday diet follows the Mediterranean diet method, which means plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, lean dairy and unsaturated fats. Dieters are encouraged to eat three meals and two snacks per day, portioning meals by filling half the plate with fruits/vegetables, ¼ with lean protein and ¼ with whole grains. Snack options include low-fat yogurt, protein bars, pudding and nuts. Rivas requires dieters to cheat on the weekends, offering up suggestions like pizza, chocolate, cheese and peanut butter. He cautions against consuming foods that may cause a binge.

Benefits: The weekday diet focuses on consuming healthful foods and regular exercise.

The Down Side: The diet is tailored to someone who wants to consume 1,600-1,800 calories a day, which may be too much or too little for certain people, doctors warn. Doctors also note that there is no scientific evidence to back Rivas’ claim about the effect of cheating on metabolic rates.