It is so frustrating for you as a trainee to not even realize if you are screwing things up. Truth is that you can give your heart to a training program but still fail if you didn’t involve your mind. The key to staying ahead of the game is through a system of tracking your diet and training compliance.
With a lot of my clients I do the Yes/No program.
The truth is with any dieting down program you should be as compliant as possible, period. Follow the program, and do what you are supposed to do best possible. In my opinion, the more of a “cheat” policy that is allowed in the program, the less you are going to be happy with the results.
That being said, who does that right?
So, the next best thing is to be realistic about what you have and have not done, don’t “sugar” coat your failures or try and rationalize, that just means living in denial. Best method to do this is to list out the following:
Nutrition
Training
Rest/Sleep
Recovery/Flex
Everyday you should have a goal or plan set for what it is you are going to do. For example:
Nutrition-1400 calories and 120g of Protein
Training-Upper Day
Rest/Sleep-8 hours
Recovery/Flex-2×10 mins program
Now, list out if you did what you were supposed to do and keep it to a simple yes or no. Not an almost yes, maybe no, almost perfect, 80%, etc. That is bull, don’t do that. Write a “Yes” or “No.”
Did you eat roughly 1300 calories and hit your protein amount? Did you? If you did, then nutrition gets a “Yes.”
Did you eat 1500 calories and only 90 grams of protein? Did you? Then your nutrition section gets a “No.” This way when 2 months roll around and progress isn’t what you want it to be, you can turn to YOURSELF and say one of the following:
“Everything was yes, I really did what I need to do so that lets me know that X amount of calories isn’t right for me and I need to change something.”
or
“There are a lot of “No’s” so obviously I need to be more compliant to the dieting program”
It can also help you highlight what might be causing a nutritional “No.” Was sleep bad? Was training too aggressive? Are you focusing on recovery? At the end of the day your lists should look like this:
Day 1-
Nutrition-Yes
Training-Yes
Rest/Sleep-No
Recovery/Flex-Yes
Day 2-
Nutrition-No
Training-Yes
Rest/Sleep-No
Recovery/Flex-No
Day 3-
Nutrition-Yes
Training-Yes
Rest/Sleep-Yes
Recovery/Flex-Yes
No graphs, no overly complicated system of measuring, and no 90% rule. Just a one simple question:
Did you do what you need to do, Yes or No?













