A Question
About
Healthy Diet
Plan
Ask
Tom Venuto
Diet Compliance vs. Cheating -
How Strict Should You Be? QUESTION: Hello Tom,
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, 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? :)
I know you get a billion
emails, but I would really appreciate it if you have time to
answer.
Kind regards,
Kathleen
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" (some people call them "free meals" or
"reward meals.")
One really good way to look
at the "cheat meals" concept 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 (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 you're eating small frequent meals like the
burn the fat program suggests, that's 5 small meals a day X 7
days a week = 35 meals. 90% compliance means 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 knew you would
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"), 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 contests.
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 BINGE DAY), and
they do a lot of damage 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!
For more information about
dieting for fat loss, visit: www.BurnTheFat.com
About the
Author:
Tom Venuto is a
natural bodybuilder and author of the #1
best selling e-book, "BURN THE FAT, FEED
THE MUSCLE.” which teaches you how to burn
fat without drugs or supplements using the
little-known secrets of the world's best
bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how
to get rid of stubborn fat and turbo-charge
your metabolism by visiting:
BURN THE
FAT. To get Tom's
free fitness newsletter, visit:
www.tomvenuto.com
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