It’s not necessary to eat perfectly clean healthy calories at every meal, every single day to lose or maintain a healthy weight and a fit healthy body. Even the pros don’t do it because there are smart strategic ways to splurge that prevent your indulgences from ending up in your fat stores. Some splurging can even work to your advantage. Get started with the 80/20, the 17/20 or the zig zag methods here:

The 80/20 Rule of Calories Method

This is my absolute favorite of all the methods because it focuses on adequate calories and moderation which are both necessary for long term weight loss, fat loss, maintenance and health. It doesn’t matter what diet you are on, if your calories are too high for your needs you will not lose or maintain so this method is great for practicing calorie control and moderation.

The formula is simple:

Total Calorie intake per week x .20% = number of splurge calories
Total Calorie intake per week x .80% = clean healthy calories

For example if your calorie intake for moderate weight loss or maintenance is 1400 calorie per day then you would multiply:

1400 calories x 7 days = total calorie intake per week
9800 calories per week for weight loss x .20% = 1960 splurge calories
9800 calories per week for weight loss x .80% = 7840 clean healthy calories

You could easily split that up into various splurge meals throughout the week or keep it to several splurge meals on the weekend. You could even divide that up into 7 days so that you get to splurge a bit each day. With our example above you would be able to do this.

1960 splurge calories per week divided by 7 days = 280 splurge calories per day
1400 calories per day intake - 280 daily splurge calories = 1120 clean healthy calories per day

This may sound complicated but I’ve tried a few other splurge methods and this is by far the easiest. Top reasons it can work for you are:

#1 You don’t feel deprived all week of treats
#2 You learn moderation in a sensible way
#3 Calories consumed can be matched to calories burned on tracker devices

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The Magnus 17/20 Nutrition Principle

This method by Hollywood trainer Magnus Lygdback was created for Hollywood action hero stars who have to follow strict eating regimens and have hectic social schedules that require a bit of flexibility. Magnus’ method requires you to eat 20 meals over the span of 4 days (3 meals 2 snacks per day) and for 17 of those meals to be clean meals while 3 of those can be splurge meals. Some of the benefits of this method are:

#1 The cycle is only 4 days long so you don’t get overwhelmed
#2 It allows for splurges mid week as well as on weekends
#3 It’s not so focused on calories and more focused on portions of superfoods

In the video here he explains this in detail. After being on one of his training plans for a month I can vouch for the effectiveness of this if your splurges are moderate and your training is on point. If your training is not so consistent and you have no clue what a moderate splurge is then this method can really backfire on you so take that into consideration.

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The Zig Zag Bodybuilder Trick

This is one of the oldest splurge tricks in the book and it goes by many names including calorie cycling, zig zag dieting, carb cycling, eat stop eat, strategic cheating, refeeding, etc. Zig Zag dieting requires you to implement high, moderate, and low calorie days throughout your week based on your activity level.

So one day would be 200-400 higher than maintenance, then 4 days would be at weight loss calories, then 2 day would be 300-400 below weight loss calories. Intermittent fasting can also be incorporated with this.

According to experts this allows you to eat more on days you train very hard and are super active, eat less on days you are more sedentary, and eat somewhat normal on days you are doing moderate activity. The reason it works so well for bodybuilders and trainers is:

#1 They are accustomed to tracking every single aspect of their diet so it’s no big deal to track
#2 It’s very precise so there is zero room for error in calorie intake
#3 It teaches you how to eat for your activity level which is also a great weight loss strategy

The issue with this method which I have tried a few times is that it’s a job to track calories. Unless you are super into spreadsheets and graphs (some clients are into that) or are bored and need something to do with all your free time then this can feel like a full time job with overtime!

Personally my biggest issue with zig zagging was there were days I trained hard and had zero interest in food and days I was doing moderate exercise and wanted more food so it just didn’t work for me, plus it made me feel like I was OCD (obsessive compulsive dieting) which is not a good thing ever!

So which method appeals to you most? Do you have splurge strategies that are working really well to keep you at your desired weight and body fat or that help you stay fit and healthy? Feel free to share them with us in the comments. Sick of diets, calorie tracking, and eating rules? Book a fitness nutrition session with behavior modification strategies and let’s figre out your ideal eating plan.