2905: The 80 20 Rule - Get Results Without Heavy Restrictions by Lea Genders of Lea Genders Fitness

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Health Daily, the 80 20 Rule. Get Results Without Heavy Restrictions by Lea Genders of LeaGendersFitness.com and I'm Dr. Neal. Hey there, happy Tuesday and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily where I simply read to you from the best health and fitness blogs for free. Now on Fridays, I do something a little different. That's where I answer your questions.

[00:00:24] Remember, you can send me a question by going to oldpodcast.com slash ask or email your question directly to health at oldpodcast.com. Alright, with that, let's jump right in and hear today's article and continue optimizing your life. The 80 20 Rule – Get Results Without Heavy Restrictions by Lea Genders of LeaGendersFitness.com

[00:00:54] The 80 20 Rule is the idea that 80% of your food intake should be healthy foods that support your goals and 20% for indulgences, foods that you enjoy but aren't the beacon of health. This ensures that most of the food you eat is supporting a healthy lifestyle while still allowing some room for treats and enjoyment. For this conversation, the term healthy foods refers to the foods that support your goals.

[00:01:21] What that means for each person may vary greatly and is a whole other conversation based on your individual nutrition needs. There is not a one-size-fits-all nutrition strategy that is effective for all humans. A healthy lifestyle includes the foods you eat, the exercise you do, yes, but it also encompasses your relationships.

[00:01:42] If you are missing out on family dinners or time with friends because you're afraid to eat a gram of carbohydrate or consume an extra calorie over maintenance, you may have traded a healthy lifestyle for disordered eating. It's the balance of it all that keeps most of us healthy and might be the hardest part. Healthy choices encompass your whole life, including your mindset. The 80 20 Rule is a way to apply the concept of moderation to your lifestyle.

[00:02:11] If you read this blog regularly, you know I am a proponent of moderation to meet almost any goal. My reason is personal. I tried all the extreme diets and exercise programs for decades, only to learn that all or nothing usually leads to nothing long-term. My health and fitness success came only once I abandoned black and white restrictive thinking and embraced imperfection and flexibility.

[00:02:38] Letting go of defining foods as good or bad helped me find balance and moderation. There are no good or bad foods. Of course, some foods are better for your health than others. But a cake is good for a birthday party and kale is bad for dessert. It's all about context. These days, I try to make the best choices that are available and appropriate at the moment.

[00:03:04] Not perfect, but consistent action towards my best effort to reach my goals. How to apply the 80-20 Rule People often ask, Is it 80% of calories or 80% of the meals you eat each week? Well, the answer is, it depends. It's more of a concept than an exact calculation. Eat well to support your goals most of the time. And when you face a choice of indulgence, know that you have some wiggle room.

[00:03:33] If you start calculating precisely 20% of calories or 20% of your meals, you probably end up giving more to indulgences. It's not intended to be a hard and fast rule, but an easy-to-follow approach to balanced eating. In other words, don't overthink it. Pay attention to your body's feedback. Do more of what makes you look, feel, and perform your best. Maybe 20% indulgences is too much.

[00:04:02] Or perhaps it's not enough. Only you can decide. The mistake people make using the 80-20 Rule The mistake people make is that they plan 20% in advance. It's already on the calendar. Pizza delivery on Friday night. Ice cream with the family on Sunday. Schedule a chocolate bar on Wednesday after the workout. It's all fine and good, but it doesn't account for the unplanned and unexpected. Life is unpredictable.

[00:04:31] Who knows when you might have to work late and the manager orders takeout for dinner. Or your kid reminds you, or basically tells you for the first time, that you have a birthday party tomorrow, but you already spent your 20%. No problem once in a while, but as life goes, we usually need to expect the unexpected. The better way to apply the 80-20 Rule Don't plan for the 20% indulgences. Let life hand them to you.

[00:04:57] There will always be parties, events, celebrations, holidays, late nights, long days, and working lunches. Plan to eat well all the time. And when life hands you an unforeseen obstacle, it won't be such a surprise. Your partner ordered pizza because they didn't feel like cooking on their night to cook? Celebration dinner with friends? Your adorable niece is selling Girl Scout cookies? Come on, who could say no to that face? No problem. You have it built into your plan.

[00:05:26] It's not about being perfect, but understanding that life will always throw you curveballs. If you planned out 20%, but then another 20% of indulgences just happened to you, you may go way over the plan. Again, not a problem occasionally, but if it happens week after week and is affecting your goal progress, it's something to consider and adjust. When does the 80-20 Rule not work? I recognize that not everyone is exactly like me,

[00:05:56] and some people do better to restrict certain foods rather than moderate them. In the same way, you wouldn't tell someone with a history of alcoholism to follow the 80-20 Rule. Sometimes it just doesn't work. There are times you may need more restrictions, and times you may need much less. Living by arbitrary rules with no regard to your body's feedback is what gets us all in trouble. If you follow Gretchen Rubin's work, she writes about personality types,

[00:06:24] and how some people are moderators like me, and others are abstainers, and how your personality may dictate what works best for you. Abstaining works for a lot of people, as long as the restriction doesn't come with feelings of deprivation, shame, guilt, or health consequences. The difference is in mindset. You can choose to eat or not eat. Whatever works best for you, you're in charge of your body.

[00:06:53] You could eat a salad and enjoyment as part of an overall healthy lifestyle, or you could eat a salad under duress and feel hungry and deprived. It's the same action, but a different mindset that makes all the difference. You just listened to the post titled, The 80-20 Rule. Get results without heavy restrictions. By Leah Genders of leahgendersfitness.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:07:22] Dr. Neil here for my commentary. You remember when I shared the story of how my nutrition students gasped in shock when I proudly told them that my favorite foods are pizza, donuts, and french fries? They are always so shocked when I admit this to them. This admission is quickly followed by a clarification statement where I say, but this doesn't mean I eat these foods all the time. I tell them about how consuming even pizza, donuts, and french fries in moderation

[00:07:51] is perfectly fine for me. I don't need to eat them regularly, but if I were to completely banish them from my diet, I would definitely miss them. Now, as today's author Leah mentioned, that may work for me, but for others, staying away completely, also known as abstaining, works for them. For others, a bite of donut may lead to consuming multiple donuts at one time. This may then lead to guilty feelings,

[00:08:18] which may then trigger a relapse of old behaviors. So again, as Leah mentioned in today's article, knowing yourself when applying something like the 80-20 rule is super important. Find what works best for you. All right, that'll do it for today. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for listening every day. I hope you're having a wonderful week so far, and I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.