18 Apr What are the best days of your cycle to start a diet?
If you’ve ever started a new eating plan to lose weight or improve your health only to end up falling back into old eating habits once again, you may have simply launched your new diet routine at the wrong time in your monthly cycle.
As new research in the Journal of Neuroscience shows, your power to resist temptation increases as your estrogen rises thanks to this hormone prompting a higher output of dopamine–a brain chemical that helps you choose bigger rewards in the future (like fitting into a smaller size or lowering your blood pressure) over instant gratification right now (like enjoying the taste of a certain treat).
This makes the first half of your Week 1 through the first half of your Week 2 (Day 4 through Day 10 in a 28-day cycle) the best days to launch a new healthy eating routine.
Not only will you be less likely to cave to a craving on these days, this gives you time to adjust to your new eating habits as your estrogen continues to rise through the end of your Week 2.
This way, you can turn them into long-term dietary adjustments you stick to, giving you the results you want.
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