One gap and all seems lost? According to Jean-Michel Cohen, this is an error. His simple trick changes everything.
“I ate a slice of cake, I ruined everything…“Many people know this little inner voice after a break. A dinner that’s too rich, an extra dessert, and immediately the guilt sets in. For Jean-Michel Cohen, this is precisely where everything comes into play. Because this reaction, seemingly innocuous, is one of the main reasons why diets fail.
In his book Knowing how to lose weight, finally! at First editions, the nutritionist warns against this very widespread reflex. After a gap, many think they have “ruined everything” and fall into a well-known cycle: we feel guilty, we give up, then we try to compensate with extreme restrictions… before breaking down again. A vicious circle that ends up undoing all efforts.
His method of getting out of it is disarmingly simple: after a deviation, you just have to resume normally from the next meal. No drastic diet, no excessive deprivation, simply a return to the usual balance. He summarizes this approach in a clear rule: “A deviation on Saturday? Normal Sunday, Monday we start again. Period.” This “24-hour reset”, as he calls it, helps stop the negative spiral before it takes hold.
This is the exact opposite of what most people do. Many adopt radical strategies: skipping meals, depriving themselves for several days, intensifying sport. Counterproductive methods according to the nutritionist, which tire the body and reinforce frustration. As a result, the risk of breaking down again increases, and the feeling of failure with it.
Because the reality is simple: a one-off gap has almost no impact on overall progress. Over the course of a year, this represents a tiny portion of the diet. It’s not that piece of cake that derails weight loss. On the other hand, the way we react immediately afterwards can change everything.
Ultimately, the real key is not to avoid all the gaps, but to know how to turn the page the next day. A simple reflex that changes everything, and which is based on an often forgotten principle: when it comes to eating, it is regularity that counts, never perfection.
