Is it possible to strictly adhere to a diet 100% of the time? I say no, and in fact you shouldn’t! We’re all going to give in to the temptation of [insert favorite food here] or find ourselves in social situations that leave us with few good food choices.

Plus sometimes we just need to give ourselves a break! If I was resigned to never having cheesecake or Mexican food again I’d be thouroughly depressed. Having treats and fun foods every now and then is really good for our mental and emotional enjoyment of life.

I just remind myself of the 80/20 rule. In a dieting context this means that 80% of the meals I eat are healthy and balanced. Though right now since I’m working on weight loss I am sticking to 90%. So then the few times when I do indulge a bit won’t wreck my diet or my overall healthy lifestyle. This is also an easier way to build a healthy habit for life instead of forcing oneself to a super strict diet all of the time.

The Body for Life plan has a slightly different way of approaching the same idea. Bill Phillips says to eat right 6 days of the week and then give yourself one free day per week with no restrictions. (By the way I highly recommend the audiobook version of the Body for Life, it’s very motivational.)

One of the advantages of choosing one day per week as a free day is that you have to plan to eat right the rest of the week. I think this free day could also be split up into 3 free meals during the week. For example, tonight is my sister’s birthday celebration so I know we’ll have a homestyle meal with cake and ice cream so this is one of my free meals!

Choose what method works best for you and follow a healthy diet in moderation. Give yourself a treat everynow and then and you’ll be on your way to a long term healthy eating lifestyle.

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