The 90% Rule

 When it comes to transforming our bodies the thing most women struggle with is nutrition.

Most women are happy to train all day long but just can’t seem to nail eating lean and clean.

The number 1 reason for this is because they expect perfection, anything less than following the plan 100% is not acceptable.

They then feel that every time they stuff up  (technical term) they have to start again, the starting again is usually preceded by going off the rails for the rest of the week with the plan to do it all again on Monday only this time they will be perfect.

Sound familiar? J

Very few women in this world can eat clean 100% of the time and the reason for that is because we are simply not geared to live this way.

Constant depravation will always lead to failure somewhere down the track whether it be in a days time, a weeks time or 1 years time; you just have to look at most former Biggest Loser contestants to see what depravation and overtraining does for them in the long term!

So! For all of you perfectionists out there (takes one to know one – I spent my 20’s & half my 30’s there!) I have a simple rule that you can apply to your nutrition and also to your training.

This rule will allow you to train and eat to your full potential in a sustainable way.

It is called the 90% Rule.

It is simply that you aim to stick to the plan 90% of the time.

What you do most of the time counts not the odd slip up.

What does this mean in terms of numbers?

If you are eating 6 meals a day x 7 days a week you are consuming 36 meals over the course of a week.

This means you can relax on 3.6 of those meals, to err on the side of perfection lets call it 3 meals.

This means that 3 times over the course of the week you can indulge in a meal or snack that isn’t clean or you can have a glass of wine 3 times and keep your diet clean if that is what floats your boat.

It means that if you plan your free meal but then later in the week go for coffee with a friend and have an almond biscotti with your coffee you are still on track.

In the progress reports that come across my desk every week  women are beating themselves up because they “failed” with their nutrition that week.

The reality is that most of the time they are well within the 90% rule but because the 10% isn’t planned they feel out of control.

So it is important to plan for at least 2 of your free meals / snacks and perhaps leave one up your sleeve in case you get caught out over the course of the week.

Doing things right 90% of the time is more than acceptable.

The same can be said for your training.

If you train 5 days a week you can afford to miss 2 training session every 2 month without too much of an issue.

Missed training sessions should be avoided if you can help it but sometimes circumstances catch us out and when that happens so long as it falls within the 90% rule you won’t be doing a lot of damage to your end results.

So there you have it a structured and planned way to bring some treats into your life without the added guilt.

Enjoy!