HOW TO IMPROVE DIET ADHERENCE
Now, I could talk about the rules of dieting forever and we’d have an extremely detailed view on how to lose fat. That’s all science that’s been well proven to work. But just like training is more than just the reps and the sets, successful, healthy and sustainable fat loss is more than calories and macronutrients.
The most advanced diet plan is useless if you can’t stick to it. Most people think the answer to fat loss lies in having a strict meal plan that they don’t veer from. But we are humans, not robots. Most of us can’t go into a 12 week mond-mode.
Most people can’t follow a strict meal plan that doesn’t fit into their lifestyle. It only leads into a cycle of yoyo-diet which means that you never truly get anywhere with your results. Often when you yoyo back up you are worse than when you first started.
That’s why I always recommend that my clients keep their favorite foods in their diet. In other words, no complete denial. It allows them to strive for results while leaving room for a normal social life. A social life that doesn’t involve Tupperware containers when heading out with the mates. Or the need to haul a scale with them when going for a kung pao chicken at the local chinese restaurant.
80% of the time, do it all the time
Few simple ways to make a more flexible diet to work is to use the 80% rule. 80% of the time stick to your eating plan. Use the remaining 20% to give you a bit of a break and flexibility to look beyond the lean protein and vegetables. Wonders happen to your adherence when you allow yourself to look at food as just food, and not calories and macronutrients.
If you eat 28 meals a week 24 of them are based on your diet plan and four are where you can practice more flexible dieting. Since breaking bread is something that brings us closer with other people I recommend keeping these four meals for times when you socialize with your friends and family. For most of us that’s during the weekends. You could also save a flexible meal for a business meeting and order a kung pao chicken.
Each of you is different. This 80% rule is not set in stone. You might prefer 90%, that’s cool. Do what is the most sustainable for you. Just one advice, don’t try to play a hero and only plan for the perfect scenario to make it 100%. Stuff comes up in life and majority of people can’t adhere to 100%. It will only make you feel like you’ve failed when you can’t stick to it.
Another problem I see people having with this rule is that they treat the 20% part as a free for all eating frenzy. A frenzy where one meal of kung pao chicken and rice becomes kung pao chicken, three bowls of rice, litre of lemonade, three donuts, a slab of butter, a lobster and sticky date pudding. That’s not a normal meal anymore but just an excuse to binge eat.
Sticking with 24 planned meals a week is useless if you undo it all by binge eating on the remaining four. Be flexible with your diet and eat a normal sized meals. Treat the 20% meals like you would the 80% meals. You wouldn’t have a three chicken breasts, six sweet potatoes, a kilogram of greens, a bucket of almonds. No, you would stop eating when you start to feel full.
When you keep denying yourself occasional treats with some of your favorite foods you will run out of willpower. Most people think they are the outliers who can willpower through a tough fat loss plan but this is not the case. The majority of folks will fail when all the other challenges of a busy professional commitment start to pile on top of a strict diet.
The best thing you can do is have flexibility for those times. Remember that even the best diet is useless if you can’t stick to it.