The 80/20 rule

For all the clean living and brown rice eating you do sometimes you just need some food for the soul.

Infact the psychological effect of permanently banning a particular food from your diet is usually to make you want to eat that food even more ... being forbidden makes it more desirable.

This is why nutritional therapists will sometimes advocate the 80/20 rule - sticking to healthy food 80 per cent of the time and eating whatever unhealthy indulgences you fancy the other twenty per cent of the time.

My more practical suggestion is to have one 'day off' per week, where you eat whatever you fancy rather than worrying about making healthy choices.

If like me, you actually like eating healthily there's no good reason to indulge this often, but if you find it hard to keep to a clean diet knowing you can have a day off on the weekend can help you stick to it ... if you crave something during the week just make a note of it and promise yourself that you can have it on your day off if you still fancy it ... chances are you won't and if you do then enjoy it guilt free knowing it's your day off!
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