Is my diet strict enough to lose weight?
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Question:
I've been doing BFL for the past year, and did well at
first, losing 3 dress sizes and 5% body fat, but then I totally hit
a plateau and have had no more results since December. I'm wondering
if I've been strict enough with my eating?
I bought your ebook, Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle, and I'm very excited about the
information I've read so far, but I need some clarification about
the eating part.
I've been eating according to the BFL philosophy with one "cheat" day
per week. What I'm reading in your Burn The Fat program is instead, to
allow myself a couple of "cheat" meals any time during the week or
on the weekend, but not to take an entire day off the program.
However, in your list of foods that turn to fat, you mention that
certain foods should only be eaten very rarely. Does that mean that
they shouldn't even be eaten at a weekly cheat meal? I can live with that,
but then, what constitutes a "cheat" meal, (for example, if my favorite
hash browns aren't allowed?
Answer:
It's not productive in the long term to totally deprive yourself of foods
you enjoy. What you have to do is find a sensible way to work even your
most "sinful" favorite foods into your diet, but do it in an amount and
frequency that doesn't set you back or sabotage your progress. This can be
done by allowing yourself some "cheat meals" - within reason. (some people
call them "freeMeals" or "reward meals."
One really good way to look at the "cheat meals" thing is in terms
of "compliance," which means, what percentage of your meals are
following the guidelines of the program and what percentage are off
the program.
Too many meals or days off the program and your results are compromised.
Too many days in a row eating nothing but "rabbit food" and you go crazy
with cravings, right?
How much you need to comply (stick with) your program varies from
person to person. It depends a lot on how ambitious your goals are
and on how responsive your body is to nutrition and exercise.
When making your decision, keep in mind we all have different genetics
and body types, which is something I discuss in great detail in chapter 5
of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. (more info here: www.burnthefat.com)
Are you a carb-tolerant mesomorph who gains muscle easily and loses
fat easily or are you a carb-sensitive endomorph who gains fat easily?
Depending on the answer, your diet program may need to be more or less
strict than others.
Don't compare yourself to others - you have to get to know your own
body type. Some people can "Get away with" more cheat meals and still
make progress (Yeah, I hate them too!)
Unless you're a competitor in physique sports like bodybuilding,
fitness or figure, or you're getting ready for some type of
transformation challenge or photo shoot, I suggest at least 90%
compliance.
Whether you adjust your level of compliance above 90% (get more "strict")
or below 90% (get more lenient), depends how far away or close you are
from achieving your goals, and most importantly, on what kind of results
you're getting each week.
If you're complying 90% of the time, and you are getting awesome results,
you don't have to change a thing, and you may be able to loosen up your
diet a little. I know some people who are definitely only "on the program"
80% or 85% of the time and they look great.
90% compliance means you are following healthy nutritious, fat burning
eating guidelines 9 meals out of 10. If youre eating small frequent meals
like the burn the fat program suggests, thats 5 small meals a day X 7 days
a week = 35 meals. 90% compliance meals about 31-32 of those meals are
spot-on! The other 3 or 4 are for you to enjoy special occasions, reward
yourself, and live a little.
If you're like most people, and you simply want to drop a few pounds,
trim a few inches off your waistline and look better in shorts or in a
swimsuit for summer, then 100% compliance is unrealistic AND unnecessary.
90% compliance is more realistic as a lifesytle, while being strict enough
for most people to get results.
On the other hand, if you had a very ambitious goal like preparing for a
figure or fitness competition and you thought you had to reach at least 12 or 13%
body fat (which is very low for women), and you will be onstage with
judges looking at every inch of your body in a teeny bikini (paying very close
attention to whether anything on your butt and thighs was "jiggling",
lol), then you would want to be as strict as possible during the pre contest
diet period (100% compliance or very close to it).
Keep in mind also, that this is a competitive situation and every time you
"cheat" and your competitors don't cheat, you decrease your probability of
placing high in the contest.
Unless you have a competitive physique goal like this, however, then total
deprivation of pleasure foods or cheat meals (100% compliance), is not
necessary because you always tend to crave what you cannot have. That's
a binge waiting to happen.
I prefer this 90 or 95% compliance approach over the "entire day of
cheating" approach, because I have seen people use the term "cheat day" pretty darn
loosely (basically making it the equivalent of a GIANT BINGE DAY), and
they do a lot of damage that way in terms of setting their progress back.
They end up frantically playing "catch up" for the better half of the
following week with punishing extra exercise and dietary deprivation.
Slow and steady is better than binge and punish don't you agree?
Allow yourself some leeway. Enjoy food. Enjoy life. Have your pizza, or
chocoloate or your hash browns or whatever makes your stomach happy. It
will help, not hurt in the long run. Just be sure to be mindful of your calorie
limits, and when you say you are going to comply 90% of the time, then
keep your promise to yourself and comply!
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