Cheating for Losing Weight

However, as a human being, we are not perfect. Yet when it comes to weight loss, we think we have to be perfect. As soon as you slip-up, even just a little, you beat yourself up with words like lazy, undisciplined, failure, and hopeless. Then the inevitable happens once more - you quit.

How about trying a new tactic for weight loss? Cheating. The “80/20 Rule” - or how to legally cheat guilt-free. Let’s say we dress casually about 80% of the time (more like 99% of the time for some of us - giggle, giggle), and we dress-up about 20% of the time.

Do the same with your eating habits. 80% of the time, when your day and your food are routine and under your control, fill-up on those weight loss heroes: whole, unrefined fruits, vegetables, grains and beans, like in my 10+10 Eating Plan for Life.
(Tip: eating vegetables is kind of like consuming air with lots more nutrients - very few calories - so use your basic weight loss sense and fill-up on them first, along with their buddies - fruits - 80% of the time that is.)

Now for the fun part of cheating, when you go out with your family or friends for a holiday or special occasion, and you’re just in the mood to “be naughty,” go ahead, make your day, and be your most “naughty” self. That’d be about 20% of the time.

Built-in flexibility in your weight loss eating plan allows you the freedom to make nutrient choices-80% sensitive choices and 20% “just because I prefer to” choices-while steady shedding pounds and building health and fitness. So when you wake up tomorrow morning, ask yourself, “Is this a regular, casual kind of day (or meal) or a dress-up kind of day (or meal)?”

Follow this 80/20% rule for that day and the rest of the week, make your decision and enjoy. The faster you admit that you aren’t perfect, you’ll never be perfect, and you don’t have to be perfect, the faster you’ll return on track to the permanent weight loss you long for and so deserve. The only obstacle in weight loss is to stop.

And you are not a quitter that much I know for sure, because you read this article until finish. Create lots of magical moments for you and your family this holiday season and remind yourself how blessed you are.