Imagine for a minute that we’re on a call together discussing your goals – and a plan. You’ve just signed up to work with me through one of my training programs, and we’re going over your goals, training history, lifestyle, and situation.

And then I say…

“So, tell me about your current nutrition.”

What’s your response?

Is it, “Well, I eat pretty good!” or “I try to eat pretty clean.” Or something of the like?

If it is, you’re amongst the majority of clients who I work with.

Let me ask you…when it comes to the 90/10 or 80/20 split of ‘clean food’ to ‘processed food’ or ‘on plan’ to ‘off plan,’ where do you think you fall?

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Now, there are a multitude of factors that come into play when implementing nutrition changes for fat loss – from very basic to super advanced. In my training programs and boot camps, we get into some more advanced and technical approaches, and individually, sometimes even more advanced.

But today, I want to make it simple. I want to boil it down into one, multi-encompassing factor that has a pretty large impact.

One thing we often underestimate when trying to eat better is the amount of “indulgences” and “treats” we consume on a weekly basis. You’re likely apt to count the obvious choices like chocolate and candy, but might be discounting other virtually nutrient-void foods.

But, when we start having total awareness of the treats or indulgences that we eat on a weekly basis, we start seeing better results.

Now, like I mentioned before, this isn’t one of my advanced techniques or strategies for fat loss, but it is one we tend to overlook. I would call this more habit-based than getting into the nitty gritty. Alas, it’s an important one, nonetheless!

First: let’s define “indulgence.” For the sake of this post, by indulgence, I mean anything that you eat purely for taste, and that has a higher caloric density than it does nutrient density.

Think cookies, crackers, white bread, wine, beer, or other alcoholic beverages, many cheeses, cakes, white pasta, the pretzel bun on your bison burger, chips, pretzels, sugar in your coffees, etc.

All of these items have a high caloric density, not very high nutrient density, and are eaten mostly for pure taste of the food.

How many of these types of items do you eat a week? Jot it down, or even take the next 7 days to keep track! Is it more than you thought?

As always, take the emotion out of it. Whether you had 50 treats or no treats, you’re not good or bad. Food isn’t good or bad. All it is is a starting place – a bench mark – to decrease from there.

So tell me! What’s one of your daily treats or indulgences that you might not have recognized? If this video struck a chord with you, tell me how you’re going to omit that treat – or replace it with something more nutrient dense?

[Tweet “Do You Really “Eat Pretty Good” Though? via @TrainerPaige”]

disclaimer: this is NOT to say you shouldn’t ever eat anything where the caloric density>nutrient density – or even change the way you’re currently eating. This is not meant to induce guilt, as guilt should be totally left out of the equation. This is just a thought-provoker 🙂