Body SHRINK demands 90-95% compliance. Remember this is only 8 weeks and if you really want to get results then you must watch your diet and exercise for 45 mins six days a week.
It's not productive in the long term to totally deprive yourself of foods you enjoy. What you have to do is find a sensible way to work even your most "unhealthy favorite foods into your diet, but do it in an amount and frequency that doesn't set you back or sabotage your progress.
One really good way to look at this concept is in terms of "compliance," which means, what percentage of your meals are following the guidelines of the program and what percentage are off the program.
Too many meals or days off the program and your results are compromised.
How much you need to comply your program varies from person to person. It depends a lot on how ambitious your goals are and on how responsive your body is to nutrition and exercise.
When making your decision, keep in mind we all have different genetics and body types.
Are you a carb-tolerant mesomorph who gains muscle easily and loses fat easily or are you a carb-sensitive endomorph who gains fat easily? Depending on the answer, your diet program may need to be more or less strict than others.
Don't compare yourself to others - you have to get to know your own body type. Some people can "Get away with" less compliance and still make progress.
Whether you adjust your level of compliance above 90% (get more "strict") or below 90% (get more lenient), depends how far away or close you are from achieving your goals, and most importantly, on what kind of results you're getting each week.
If you're complying 90% of the time, and you are getting awesome results, you don't have to change a thing, and you may be able to loosen up your diet a little. I know some people who are definitely only "on the program" 80% or 85% of the time and they look great.
90% compliance means you are following healthy nutritious, fat burning eating guidelines 9 meals out of 10. If you're eating small frequent meals like the burn the fat program suggests, that's 5 small meals a day X 7 days a week = 35 meals. 90% compliance means about 31-32 of those meals are spot-on! The other 3 or 4 are for you to enjoy special occasions, reward yourself, and live a little.
Keep in mind also, that this is a competitive situation and every time you "cheat" and your competitors don't cheat, you decrease your probability of placing high in the contest.
Unless you have a competitive physique goal like this, however, then total deprivation of pleasure foods or cheat meals (100% compliance), is not necessary because you always tend to crave what you cannot have. That's a binge waiting to happen.
I prefer this 90 or 95% compliance approach over the entire day.a I have seen people use the term "cheat day" pretty loosely (basically making it the equivalent of BINGE DAY), and they do a lot of damage in terms of setting their progress back.
They end up frantically playing "catch up" for the better half of the following week with punishing extra exercise and dietary deprivation. Slow and steady is better than binge and punish don't you agree?
Allow yourself some leeway. Enjoy food. Enjoy life. Just be sure to be mindful of your calorie limits, and when you say you are going to comply 90% of the time, then keep your promise to yourself and comply!