Nutritionist  Amanda Baker Lemein has developed a strategy to lose weight called “2 a week”: in essence, you follow the low-calorie diet seven days a week, but twice a week you indulge in a greedy food of your choice . foods that you particularly love. In this way, you keep the motivation to lose weight and continue the diet.  This weight loss strategy works psychologically, and is similar to the 80/20 rule. It can be useful to avoid demonizing food, and to associate the diet with a period in which what we desire is “forbidden”.

However, in order for the “2 a week” strategy to work, these rules must be considered:
– the greedy food must be bought specifically and eaten , other foods that tempt us and risk ruining our diet must not be kept at home. For example, the nutritionist recommends going out and eating something we like twice a week.
– it is not a real free meal , i.e. the food in question must be more of a snack or a small meal. For example a slice of pizza, a croissant, a large pastry, a small hamburger (not double), a simple ice cream cone, a small bar of chocolate (50 grams)
– it doesn’t have to be a light version:we really have to choose the version we want, and not opt ​​to make a light version of the same thing at home. This would have an important psychological impact because it would not make us feel deprived and it would not give us the feeling of being able to eat something “as long as” it is cooked in a certain way.
In this way, the tension of the diet is released, one has the impression of being able to take a break every now and then, and that the foods we love are not something that we have to give up necessarily.