I’d always been a reasonably healthy person as I didn't have takeaways very often and I was never a big fan of fizzy drinks. However, I did have a few too many bad habits which lead me into my fitness journey which I can only describe as not simple! Those habits being; eating far too many biscuits with my tea at night and finding my way into the snack cupboard too often which then lead me onto wanting to lose weight. I tried countless ways to lose weight and feel happier about my body the main ones being diet teas, eating only vegetables, different skinny girl diets etc. Which didn't work for long periods of time as they all involved extreme restriction or calorie counting which ultimately lead to me binge eating - often. The cycle was constant going from one diet to another losing weight > binge eating > putting on weight again and I would start again with a diet.
Soon I found myself always thinking about the next meal, worrying about the menu at the restaurant, how I looked to other people which very soon had me trapped in the house... I felt so insecure that everyone would see how much weight I had put on so, I would cancel on social plans and bail on many family interactions due to the fear of this. It got to the point that I generally hated bingeing so much that I would have risked putting on more weight to start being happy with myself and losing weight the right way. I generally had no control of my eating anymore and I felt so lost. All I wanted was to understand how to eat 'normally' again and not worry about every calorie or gram of fat was within the food I was consuming.
So this is where I explain how to do this the right way. My ideal with my website is to help anyone and everyone who is confused as f*ck like I was in this crazy fitness community we are in at the moment. One person says one thing and another says another nothing seems consistent but, believe me it is more simple than it seems. We need to cancel the diet culture for good and spread the word on how to achieve balance and gain structure. There are so many myths in the fitness community and I am single handedly going to help debunk and simply everything for all of you!
Below I have some examples of the 80/20 mindset / lifestyle compared to the all or nothing mentality and I'm going to explain the difference and why to follow the 80/20 mindset.
The all or nothing mentality is how we are programmed in the 'diet culture' to lose weight but this ultimately leads to failure due to the unrealistic expectation that you will never eat a 'bad' considered food again. Which we all know we will want to eat a cookie again one day - right? Leading on from that diets are extremely negative and make you think that there are bad foods and good foods. Which to a point there are better foods than others nutrition wise, but you cannot expect to never eat another cake again - we all need balance. You cannot remove all unhealthy foods from your lifestyle it's just not practical or successful. You get driven to thinking about those foods more and more to the point that you are overwhelmed and can be made to binge eat.
∗ Dieting can be dangerous: “Yo-yo” dieting (repetitive cycles of gaining, losing, & regaining weight) has been shown to have negative health effects, including increased risk of heart disease, long-lasting negative impacts on metabolism, etc. Dieting forces your body into starvation mode.
Many diets are also dangerous causing potential health risks and can be extreme on your body for example the 'skinny girl diet' this diets rule is to fluctuate between 300 and 500cals each day. which is in NO WAY recommended. Fad diets become popular because they sometimes work for a short time - weight does come off, but it's usually from loss of water or lean muscle. While you may lose a decent amount of weight initially, the restrictions caused by fad diets are unhealthy and unrealistic to maintain - ultimately leading to failure and embarrassment.
Remember muffin or cookie you had at lunch will not affect any long term goals! Remember that its all about the overall week/month you having a donut or some nachos for lunch 2 or 3 days that week is less likely to hinder with progress than not letting yourself have the donut and by Thursday you are bingeing on anything you can find when you still want the donut! The more you let yourself have the things you want the less often you will actually want them you will have days where it looks like 90/10 or days that you feel you need more so it's 60/40 but overall you are making progress!
So,, whats the 80/20 lifestyle? Is it a diet or a weekly plan to help you lose weight. NO, its the complete opposite it's just a guidance for you to follow throughout your day. You simply just want aim to eat healthier foods 80 percent of the time and have a serving of your favourite treat with the other 20 percent. This is daily reference so make sure you are eating something to relieve your cravings daily DO NOT use 80% of your week for healthier and 20% as your weekend splurge. When doing this daily you learn that the muffin you eat that day to relieve your craving does not impact your goals what so ever. By learning this you will gain balance with food and realise that some days it will be 70% 30% and others will be 50% 50%. Either way you will reach your goals by simply being consistent and building a structure around the around your mindset.
People following the 80/20 lifestyle should follow a healthy eating plan for 80% of the time, this should address personal nutritional needs whilst meeting nutritional guidelines. These guidelines typically include eating a daily minimum of five portions of vegetables and fruit, choosing whole grains rather than refined versions, enjoying more fish, poultry, beans and pulses and less red meat, and opting for lower-fat dairy or dairy alternatives. No food groups are omitted from the plan, leaving it up to the follower to select the foods they most enjoy.*
*The 80/20 rule is more of a mindset than a diet. The eating style involves following a healthy routine 80% of the time and being flexible for the remaining 20%. Following the rule requires no calculation or preparation, it's simply about approaching your health and fitness with balance, the reporters said.*
For the “80 percent” part of the plan, focus on drinking lots of water and eating nutritious foods that include:
For your treats, or the “20 percent” part, eat your favourite foods in moderation. For example, you might have a small piece of chocolate cake today and a drink a glass of red wine tomorrow—just not both at the same time. This way of eating is easier to maintain than stricter diets like ketogenic or paleo diets, which limit carbs and processed foods.
The best thing about the 80/20 rule is that you're never saying, "I can't eat that." Instead, you're saying, "I can eat this today and have that tomorrow."
Try and eat 80% healthy and 20% something to calm that craving like that muffin or couple cookies you were staring at all day. Have a burger takeout for dinner and just get less sides to weigh out 80/20. No day has to be exact as some days you won't feel like needing a sweet treat so your day might look like 90/10 or 100/0. Other days you might eat more and your day might look more like 30/70 and you've had something like a few croissants for breakfast and went out for lunch, guess what this doesn't matter either! The 80/20 lifestyle is only there as guidance just a little rule that you try to stick to most of the time. But you need to have balance this is what this lifestyle teaches you is that the general goal is 80/20 it just makes you stay healthier most of the time and guides you to realise that you can have treats everyday. they will not harm your progress as much as the world makes you think it does. Just don't over do it.
Food is not the enemy and we have been brought up in this world to view foods as bad and good by the diet community. The 80/20 lifestyle helped me recover from my binge eating habits by showing me that the foods I was told were bad wouldn't ultimately effect my overall goals. I want to help everyone else learn the ways and see how easy it really is to get those results you really want with food!
Following on from this blog if you are looking for more really useful and eye opening information about how to get toned and sculpt your body how you've always wished to have it. Please check out my must read blogs all of these posts are my must reads for a reason and i highly suggest you take a look!
Thank you for reading this and I really hope I helped you today!
%20(3).png)
.png){kind=icon}
