You know the story. You wake up, workout, and then go about your day, completely focused; making sure that you only take in quality nutrients. Your diet is totally on point, and you don't even have the slightest desire to cheat. Then, something happens. The moon comes out, and analogous to an excerpt from Kafka's Metamorphosis, you turn from bodybuilder to wolf. You start to see images of the Dunkin Donuts sign flying by, smiling at you. Ben & Jerry become your new best friends, and father Ronald McDonald gives you the nightly sermon served with extra trans-fat and overly salted pseudo-potato. You walk over to the phone and start to make frantic phone calls for pizza like a desperate stockbroker pitching to the next millionaire tycoon. I never did understand the true connection between nightfall and cheating on one's diet, but I do know that I have fallen culprit to it many times, and have known this to also be the case among numerous people I have spoken to, whether they are friends, clients, or fellow fitness professionals. During the Night Underneath it all, we are all human, and we are all motivated first and foremost by desire. When our desires contradict our current goals, then we must stand square and control them, so that they don't control us. During the night, we have taken care of the majority of the days "busy work" so to speak, so we are sometimes left with a time of empty relaxation, whereby we don't have much responsibility. When this happens, we often seek solace in the fulfillment of the taste sensation, since we are able to relax and enjoy it fully. Unfortunately, when we are trying to keep in shape, the constant discipline and abstinence sometimes kills the term "moderation", in our minds, and we flock from food to food as if we were working on a buffet assembly line, placing stress on our digestive system, and adding fat cells and excess fluid retention to the already existing volume. This in turn means more necessary cardio, and a stricter dietary regimen for the days that follow, to make up for the "binge" that took place. Think about the "mind chemistry" which takes place before a food binge occurs. First, the thought has to enter your mind subconsciously, and get "registered". After the thought is registered, the mind decides whether or not to take this thought, and convert it to proper action by means of the body. Here Is The Limiting Step: You have complete and total control of one thing and one thing only: Your own MIND. When this thought enters your subconscious mind, you have the power to NEVER turn the thought into an action. This being said, we all know this to not be the case the majority of the time. Most people don't even realize the subconscious entering of such a thought into their minds, and proceed straight to the action step, devouring everything in sight, and spiking their insulin so quickly, that they soon get knocked out, and are down for the count like a boxer who was smacked in the face by a giant Dorito. Think About All Of The Steps Involved: The thought enters your mind that you want to cheat. You decide to take action on the thought. You stand up. You walk over to the fridge, door (to go to the store), or phone (to order food). You open the fridge door, grab your keys and unlock the door, or dial the phone (after looking through your pile of menus and picking one out). You reach into the fridge and start searching around, walk out your door to the store or sit and wait the fast food delivery man. Etc... These are definitely a lot of steps! And there are many in between I have probably missed as well. So as we see here, there are 7 opportunities to reason with your own mind, and think "ok, do I really want to kill all my hard work in the gym by eating something that will only award me temporary satisfaction, and make me look/feel worse?" In the heat of the moment, the binge eater is sometimes likened to an animal that cannot control itself, acting on instinct only, without regard to what is going on. He consumes simply for the sake of consumption, and receives his satiety from this fact, and this fact only: he will not stop until he is absolutely stuffed, and will award his palate with a plethora of different tastes to fit his liking.