Support Your Healthy Weight Loss Goals with the 80/20 Rule
Maybe you’ve done this before: had a great week, planned your meals well, carved out that time to move, drank your water. And then the weekend arrives, and what with one thing and another, by Sunday night you’re feeling bloated and crabby and craving nothing more than a whole bag of chips to yourself.
Or perhaps you’re on vacation, and you find that, “all you can eat” has turned into “you can eat it all.” You decide to go with the moment, and enjoy it all, until you start to feel the effects of too much - too much food, too much drink, too many late nights, and decide to get back on track.
It’s easy to get tripped up by holidays, spontaneity, and boredom. It’s easy to get off track with one or two decisions that lead you to that all or nothing place, where you decide temporarily that you just can’t do it, at least until you start feeling lethargic and short-tempered, and decide you just have to do it all again.
In order for weight loss to be sustainable, it has to be rooted in lifestyle changes that can account for the ups and downs of how life works. A healthy weight loss program will have the flexibility to fit into your life, with all of its variables, and still provide the structure for you to make the healthy decisions most of the time.
This is where the 80/20 rule comes in. The 80/20 rule is principle from economics that in general, 20% of your inputs will be responsible for 80% of your outputs. When it comes to eating, people have adapted this rule to allow for some flexibility in your eating choices: if you eat healthy 80% of the time, you can indulge 20% of the time.
It seems a bit counter-intuitive: if that 20% is most responsible for your outcomes, how does it work to indulge 20% of the time? But this is where the genius of the idea resides. Twenty percent isn’t all that much. In a week of meals, it’s about 4 meals out of 21. In a day of 2000 calories, it’s about 400 calories, which amounts to about one treat per day (not per meal!). It also requires that your 80% be healthy—meaning an appropriate balance of protein, healthy fat, and complex carbohydrates. This is where the 80/20 rule helps you make decisions: it encourages moderation and choices. Portion control is key to any healthy eating strategy, because even healthy foods eaten in excess give you more than what you need, and your body will store the excess. The key is to zero in on what your body NEEDS: what are the nutrient-dense sources of fat, protein, and complex carbohydrates (mostly in the form of fruits and vegetables), that will fuel you? And what are the special things that bring you connection and joy, that you want to make space for?
Tips to create healthy structure
Create a routine, and include accountability.
A routine sets some boundaries in place that will remove some of the decision-making fatigue. If you have a rotation of healthy breakfasts in place, there is no need to spend time choosing what to eat. It helps to build some accountability into your routine as well, if weight loss is a goal. Having someone else encouraging you to make the healthy choice can help when you’re tempted to go off-book.
Plan.
The more you plan, the less you will get caught by surprise. Plan your meals, plan your snacks, look at the menu before you go to a restaurant so that you can plan what you’ll order, plan your weekends (and give yourself some breaks in there! Plan an easy left-overs meal instead of leaving the option of take out, or go ahead and plan the take-out and know that it’s your treat for the day). Plan your vacations, even if you know that what you’re planning are some splurge days. You understand what your boundaries are then, and you know the big picture. You know what you need, when you take the time to think about it and plan it out.
Spice it up.
If you get bored with what you’ve planned, and with your routine, shake it up! Change things around. Experiment with new flavor profiles. Buy some herbs or spices. Look up new recipes. Try new fruits or vegetables. Learn a new technique or skill. Sometimes what you need to do is invite some enchantment back into your meals: light a candle, use the fancy plates, buy flowers for the table. Drink your water from a wine glass.
The Keys to an 80/20 Plan: Moderation and Flexibility
In order to get the most from what you fuel your body with, keep these two things in mind: moderation and flexibility. A flexible structure makes room for what YOU want, and you get to decide what those things are. Moderation helps you make choices around both nutrition content and portion control, and helps you understand how your choices fit into your big picture and support your goals. The goal of any healthy weight loss program should be to increase your vitality and energy, to fuel your body with the nutrition it needs to function and heal, and to provide you with the support to make the choices and changes that are sustainable for long-term health.
If you are looking for structure and support, TruBalance experts are ready and willing to share their knowledge and encouragement. All our offices are equipped for virtual appointments, and you’ll find support in many forms, from participation as a patient in our program, to Dr. Kiernan’s cookbook, Eating on Purpose, to our online community, TRIBE, and our deep dive into the lifestyle choices and changes that support health in our e-course, Lifestyle Mastery for Health. Let today be the day you take your first steps towards better health!