Cheating Just A Little

When I look at peoples food journals what I often see is people who cheat more often than they think. When it comes to nutrition it takes quality nutrition 90% of the time in order to really make progress. The other 10% of the time you can do whatever you want as long as you don't go too overboard.

So is it better to cheat just a little everyday and be 70% compliant or to have a better cheat and be 90% compliant. I would argue that I would rather you be 90% compliant with your nutrition and really eat what you want in the other 10%.

So what is wrong with being 70% compliant. If you are 70% compliant with your nutrition then you are trying to make an effort to eat well which means that you are probably trying to avoid a lot of foods. When you cheat 30% of the time which is about once per day then you usually eat a small amount of foods that are off limits and then feel guilty about it. This guilt only causes more stress which leads to more cheating.

The better thing to do is to be 90% compliant and cheat only 10% of the time, but when you do cheat eat what you want without the guilt.

From a hormonal standpoint it is also more beneficial to cheat less often and with the foods that you really want. When you constantly cheat a little everyday you don't allow your hormonal system to adapt into a fat burning metabolism, which will slow down your fat loss. By cheating less often with the foods that you really want you are manipulating your hormones and creating an environment in which the excess sugars and calories will be more likely to be stored in your muscles rather than your fat. Then when you go back to your quality nutrition again you will spark faster fat burning.

So what does 90% compliance look like. If you eat 3 meals and one snack everyday then then that gives you 28 feeding opportunities per week. This gives you 2-3 meals/week where you can eat what you want. 70% compliance would be about 7 meals/week or once per day.