Getting an "A" on your diet!

Finding the right balance between being in control and enjoying freedom can be one of the most frustrating aspects about staying on track with a diet plan. Often, we feel pulled to not limit ourselves and eat the tasty foods that we know won't really help us attain our goals. However, we don't want to be too strict and feel like we need to live in a box in order to achieve weight loss (or gain) results. There are several methods that may be helpful in allowing you to have freedom, yet keep you on course with your goals.

"Free Day"
Having a day during the week that allows you to eat the foods that you have been craving all week, might give you the freedom you were looking for. However, I would be very cautious on how you approach this day, if you plan to choose this route of enjoyment. Often, a "free day" really turns into a "binge day" where you eat any and all types of junk food that you may normally not even consider. This day, for many people, turns into a "Last Supper" mentality and many people find that they need to eat everything in sight because they have to wait another week before they can eat junk food again.

I was first introduced to the "Free Day" concept with the Body-For-Life program. A day during the week, you were supposed to pick as your day off and eat whatever you want. The thought process behind this is that after eating all the junk food, you would not want to eat junk food again because of how it made you feel. However, what I find it does is create binging and exercise bulimia mentalities. I personally didn't have that big of an issue with binge eating until I rigorously followed this plan.

This plan can work well for some. It works best if you enjoy 2-3 meals during that day off that you normally wouldn't eat, but keep it reasonable. Don't force feed yourself junk food, just because you are running out of daylight!

Be Reasonable Plan
This plan basically means that you can enjoy the foods that you like on a daily or most days basis, if you have a small portion and keep it to that. For example, if your favorite food is ice cream, have a serving (1/2 cup) at night, but no more than a serving.

This plan can work very well if you keep yourself full from all the healthier foods that tend to fill you up (like lean protein and high fiber foods). If however, you don't keep yourself full, or you skip meals, this plan may not satisfy you all that well. One small serving of your favorite food, may just lead you into another small serving and then another....

But, I think if you are a reasonable person, you should be able to do very well with this approach to diet planning. Eat a well balanced diet and keep treats small (wow, what a concept! :).

Get an "A" on your diet plan
This plan is about having a certain number meals that are on track versus not on track. For example, let's say you eat 6 meals each day. That means you eat 42 meals each week. Now, if you want to keep at least 90% of all your meals on track, you have to eat at least 38 good meals. However, that means that 4 of those meals can be off-track or "fun meals". These 4 meals can easily be up to 150% of what you would normally eat calorically and really not create any lasting weight issues. For example, if your normal meal is about 400 calories, then a "fun meal" might be up to 600 calories.

Of course following this plan requires keeping good track of calories, and your meal plans in general. This plan may work well for bodybuilders, but might be a bit impractical for the general public. However, it can work well for people who struggle with controlling their diet too much. If you find you need to stay on track and are very strict with your diet planning, this may be an opportunity to allow yourself to relax a little bit and not worry about being thrown off course.

However, be cautious that one "fun meal" doesn't turn into another and another and then it eventually turns into a "free day". This plan is still about being in control, but allowing yourself to relax a little bit.

My Recommendations
I personally like the "Get an "A" plan" the best because it allows me to stay in control, yet enjoy myself occasionally. I think for the general public, the "be reasonable plan" is probably the best. Keep treats small and eat a well balanced diet. For the more strict dieter, the "Getting an "A" plan" may work better. I personally don't recommend the "free day plan" to that many people, just because it sets the wrong mentality. Any day that has a "no holds barred" mentality can create a lot of problems for folks.

"So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world." 1 Peter 1:13(NLT)