365 Ways #281–Cheat days

#281–When I’m analyzing a client’s diet/sleep/exercise diary, I will often see a day that the client will tell me later is a “cheat day”. Characterized by alcohol and junk food like chips or candy, these days are normally coupled with late nights and lack of exercise. It’s almost like there were two people keeping the log. The 80/20 rule holds that you should do something 80% of the time so that your body can handle the 20% of the time you either can’t or don’t want to. But I think this concept is often done back-asswards by the very same people who need consistency the most. They’re living in accordance with nature only 20% of the time, and, predictably, their health reflects that. They brush their teeth on cheat days. So what makes them think they can afford to be slack in other parts of their lives? Ironically, the healthier a person becomes, the less likely they are to sacrifice the foundational principles on which they built that health, even if they’re resilient enough to tolerate the injustice of occasionally doing so. It must be that real health brings with it the keen understanding that any cheat days in a program are truly just cheating oneself.