Rule # 10.
Plan to break the rules 10% of the time.
That means sticking to the rules 90% of the time.
On Saturday night at a party I ate 2 roast beef and gravy rolls for dinner. I then ate some chips and chocolate peanuts and chocolate coconut balls and chocolate meringue tart over the rest of the evening. I even drank some lemon, lime and bitters which is a rarity for me.
This was my cheat meal and I did a good job of it.
Strangely enough I felt incredibly sick and insanely tired that evening and even worse the next day.
So junk food is good for making you sick and helping you appreciate how good real food is…I hope.
Now I’m not going to lie. I love ice cream. And I love pizza. I could eat them every day.
However, I am a personal trainer and must set an example, plus I am on a strict diet to reverse the Chronic Fatigue causes that are plaguing me.
And as much as I overindulged at the party on Saturday night, I earned it, and this is why.
I eat 5 times per day. 3 main meals and 2 snacks.
That’s 35 meals per week.
From Sunday to Friday I ate perfectly at each of those meals, all 30 of them.
On Saturday I still ate perfectly all the way up to the party that night (4 out of 5), giving me one meal for the entire week which was bad.
I cheated 3% of the week and ate perfectly 97%.
I will receive 97% of the benefits of my disciplined eating, so I should drop bodyfat this week.
I didn’t need to be so strict as I had a massive week running 10 Bootcamps and doing 5 training sessions myself, so I probably could have gotten away with a little more junk food if I had the urge for it. And you don’t need to be as strict as I did last week.
If you eat well 90% of the time and eat junk only 10% of the time you will definitely be moving towards your goal of lower bodyfat at a much faster rate than most other people.
But here’s something else to think about, and the silly season is a perfect time of the year to see what I’m talking about.
PLAN to break the rules.
The emphasis is on the word plan for a reason.
You need to know that if you are at a party you are going to eat, drink and be merry! It’s harder to have a good time if you don’t, and so you should plan accordingly.
If you are eating 5 times per day as I am you will eat 35 meals each week.
In which case you should be eating 31.5 meals per week according to the rules we’ve been covering, and 3.5 meals per week according to whatever your eyes or stomach desire.
If you eat more or less times per day then you should work out your cheat meals accordingly.
Because it’s Christmas time, there are a ton of parties going on. Choose those days for your cheat days and plan out the rest of your week’s food in advance.
Do some cooking on the weekend and store some meals ready to go in Tupperware or whatever you need to.
Is it achievable?
Yes it is, as long as you want the results bad enough.
There’s no excuse for not getting a healthy breakfast and lunch in, and snacking on fruit, veg and nuts between meals isn’t too hard either.
All it takes is a decision.
What is hard is not eating any junk food for a whole month.
Last year I started No Junk January in which only good, healthy food was consumed the entire month.
It is a big challenge, but a welcome one after the Christmas festivities wind up and you realize that too much alcohol and food have done terrible things to your waistline and energy levels.
So this is just a teaser…something to think about for next month.
But in the meantime, enjoy the holiday season and try to cheat only 10% of the time if you want some fat to fall off before Christmas.
