When you set goals it's important to choose something difficult, but that you genuinely want to achieve. Your successful adoption of a new lifestyle means making concessions that you feel are sustainable. If you feel like you're not enjoying your meals and feel like you are denying yourself, no matter how great your results you may be tempted to stray - this is the issue yoyo dieters encounter.

Lets look at the "step 100 no alcohol" for example: If your enjoyment of life is improved with the occasional drink, don't deny yourself this. Instead make it a goal to indulge less frequently, or using lower sugar products or items without mixers.

Focus on what you really want; be conscious of your choices and understand that even if you're striving to be 100% paleo the occasional concession may be made out of choice or necessity. If you accept your choices without attaching guilt, these "cheats" or "treats" are not failures, and by acknowledging them for what they are (a special exception for whatever reason you see fit) they don't become a habit.

I consider myself 100% paleo; I eat no grains, dairy, legumes, tubers, sugar and keep my carbs <20 grams a day by choice. One day, I may be in the tropics and want to eat a whole fresh pineapple. Will I deny myself that? Hell no! It would be within my realm of an "acceptable, special splurge".

I've had the same experience with cheat days—when I went off the rails and just went for it, I reached for all the "good" foods—bread, cereal, ice cream, etc—and downed them without any real enjoyment. Any small bit of satisfaction gained from cheating was cancelled out by looking and feeling awful for the next three days.

My progression is a bit odd, as I started with a traditionally "healthy" diet that didn't take a great deal of modification to paleo-ize. Soda had been gone for a long time, as well as most processed foods, flour and sugar. I did a Whole30, cutting out all the stuff I was supposed to, but then I reintroduced some dairy without any problems. I still eat fruit, and some occasional white rice, as my training allows it. I don't really ever need to get to Step 100 permanently (it would be Step 99 anyway, since I don't drink), but I'm really happy where I am and I'll be able to stay here, sans cheats, indefinitely.