When clients ask me this question, my answer is simple. 

I'll allow you to eat junk food one meal per week.  I will NOT allow you to splurge for a whole day as many popular fitness experts, books and magazines will tell you.

If I take on a new client, my goal is to get them the best results possible.  And if I allow a client to cheat for a whole day or more, this is going to make it difficult.

You must realize that if you eat junk food or you're eating too many calories in a given day, you're setting up your next day for failure. 

Your body will naturally be hung over just as if you drank a twelve pack of beer or a bottle of wine.  And if you ate poorly plus drank...well, I'm sure you can figure out what happens. 

If your goal is to lose 25, 50 or 100 pounds, following this pattern will definitely get in the way of your results.

You're basically eliminating 2 days for what would otherwise be very productive. 

That's potentially 1200 calories you could burn from doing cardiovascular exercise and potentially 500 calories (or many more) from overeating. 

Yes, even a measly couple days matter. 

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Now, you may be thinking... "Jim you're waaaaay to hardcore for me...eating junk food once or twice a week isn't a big deal."

Well, if you're 20% body fat and you have the metabolism of a 7-year old, then sure, that would be true. 

But 99% of the clients I help are 35-50% body fat.  Some of you reading this may also be in the same situation. 

So yes, eating junk food for an entire day IS a big deal and I promise you, those unburned calories from lack of exercise and those extra calories from too much food...DOES make a difference!

Now, let's say you get down to about 20-24% body fat if you're a woman and 10-15% body fat if you're a man...then yes, I would allow you to cheat for a day. But until that day comes, it's gotta be one meal a week.

So if you're serious about your fitness goals and want to get a kick-butt body...cheat for one meal a week. 

If however, you want to eveeeeentually lose weight and get the body you want...then cheat for a whole day or even more.  I'm not going to twist your arm. 

But I may if you're MY client...hehe. :)

Hope you had a great weekend and until next time, train hard and train smart.

Yours in Total Fitness & Maximum Success,

Jim Coughlin