fitness instructor erik ledin revisits the 90 percent rule

90%  Rule  Revisited  By  Erik  Ledin  October  28,  2013    Recently,   I’ve   been  thinking  a  lot  about  free  meals.   As   you   probably  know,   I’m   fairly   strict  when   it   comes   to  dietary   adherence,   as   a  rule.   But   the   question  always   has   to   be–in  my  particular   case,   what’s  the   best  way   to   achieve  and  maintain  progress?  The   number   you   hear  me   and   other   diet  coaches  throw  around  a  lot   is   90   percent.  Generally   speaking,   90   percent   is   the   lowest   level   of   dietary   adherence   you   can  maintain  without  compromising  your  results.  The  more  you  fall  below  this  mark,  the  less  likely  you’ll  see  any  of  the  results  you’re  looking  for.    For  example,  say  you’re  on  a  42  meals-­‐per-­‐week  plan  (that’s  six  meals  a  day,  seven  days  a  week).  This  means  that  38  of  those  42  meal  have  to  be  100%  perfect.    If  you  were   on   a   35  meals-­‐per-­‐week   plan,   that   figure  would   change   to   about   32.   Seems  fairly  simple,  right?    However,  take  a  moment  to  consider  not  just  the  number  of  cheat  meals,  but  the  size  of  them.  If  your  free  meals  are  on  the  order  of,  say,  1,500  calories,  and  you  have  two  of   them   a   week,   it’s   fairly   obvious   that   this   will   be   problematic,   even   though  technically  you’re  still  operating  at  95%  adherence.    See  where  I’m  going  with  this?  Instead  of  looking  at  this  in  terms  of  meals,  look  at  it  in   terms   of   calories.   If   your   plan   allows   a   total   of   11,200   weekly   calories   (that’s  1,600   calories   a   day),   a   10%   deviation   would   be   1,120   calories.  So   you   basically  have  1,120  calories  of  wiggle   room  a  week   if   you  want   to   stay  at  90%  adherence.  And   if   your   diet   is   under   11,200  weekly   calories,   your  wiggle   room  will   be   even  smaller.    Let’s   turn   it  around.  Say  you’re  on  a  11,200  weekly  calorie  diet  and  you  have   two  1,300-­‐calorie   off   plan   meals.   At   2,600   calories   total,   that   equates   to   76.8%  adherence,  far  below  the  90%  cutoff  point.    

Until  now,  my  advice  for  free  meals  have  been  rather  vague:  “be  mindful  of  portions”  or  “eat  responsibly.”  I  say  this  because  I  understand  that  the  point  of  a  free  meal  is  to   take   a  break   and  not   stress   about   things   so  much.  But  without  proper,   specific  guidelines,  these  free  meals  can  undo  progress  and  threaten  your  chance  of  success.  This  isn’t  set  in  stone  and  it’s  not  for  everyone.  But  it   is  a  new  system  I’ve  devised  for  those  who  need  a  bit  of  concrete  structure  to  help  keep  them  reigned  in  with  free  meals.  If  you’re  worried  about  your  free  meal  discipline,  just  plug  your  caloric  intake  in,  do  the  math,  and  see  how  much  you  can  let  yourself  slide.  Now,  will  all  this  math  take  some  of   the   fun  out  of   free  meals?  Perhaps.  But  they  were  never  meant   to  be  free-­‐for-­‐alls  anyway.    Just  some  food  for  thought!