Step 2: 80/20 Rule

By Kellijo

80/20 Rule

Knowing what to eat can be challenging.  Do I diet?  If I do what diet works best for me?  Well the truth is diets just don’t work.  And there is actually science to back this up.  Tracy Mann teaches psychology at the University of Minnesota and has studied dieting for the past 21 years and according to her findings, diets lead to failure. In her book "Secrets from the Eating Lab," She says that there are three biological changes that occur in our bodies when we diet.

Neurological

When you diet you start to think about food.  You obsess about it.  It is always on your mind.  After reading this I got to thinking about fasting.  Fasting is so hard for me to do.  On a normal day I can easily skip meals.  There are times when I am constantly on the go and when I look at the time I realize that half the day is gone and I haven’t eaten a thing. I don’t even think about food.  But when I have to fast it is one of the hardest things for me to do.  I recall a time when I was going to fast.  I was going to go without food and drink for two meals.  It was breakfast time and without thinking I made myself a shake like I do every day for breakfast.  As I was drinking it I was preparing a crockpot for dinner that I was going to devour after my fast.  I remember thinking that  fasting is just so hard and the day just stared and I am already miserable. I can't wait till dinner so I can eat! I  already felt dehydrated and very hungry just thinking about how I had to fast this day as I was drinking a shake.  I took me awhile before it dawned on me that I was eating while I was supposed to be fasting.  Just the thought of depriving myself of food made me miserable.

Hormones

Hormones that make you feel hungry increase and hormones that make you feel full decrease.  So you don’t feel full but you feel hungry.  That is a no win situation!

Metabolic changes

Metabolism decreases and your body learns to run on fewer calories.  This makes left over calories and when you have leftover calories your body converts them to fat..  Our body just loves to convert things to fat!

So what do you do if you shouldn’t diet?

  Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule?  It really works and makes life easier because 80% of the time you eat clean and 20% of the time you can enjoy whatever you want. You have probably heard of cheat meals and that is what the 20% is. The 80/20 rule is not a diet it is a lifestyle change. I do not believe in depriving myself.  If I tell myself I will never drink a pop again then that is all I think about and I crave it so I drink it.  If I tell myself I will lower my carbohydrate intake then I will just overload on carbs. If I tell myself I will never eat refined sugar again…well that will never happen because I have the worst sweet tooth. This is why I love the 80/20 rule.  It lets you not be perfect.  It lets you enjoy the foods you love but shouldn’t eat or drink every day.

Example of how the 80/20 rule works

If you only eat 3 meals a day that equals 21 meals a week so 4 of those meals are your cheat meals and you can eat what you like.

If you eat 7 small meals a day that equals 49 small meals a week so 9 meals are your cheat meals and you can eat what you like.

Tips

Just because you get 4 or 7 cheat meals you still need to stay within portion sizes and try not to overindulge.   The key is always will power and portion control.

Don’t eat all of your cheat meal in one day. Don’t even have 2 cheat meals in a day. Spread it out through the week!

I hope you have enjoyed step 2.  Learning to change eating habits for the better is not the easiest but with small steps that lead to habits it can be done.  Next I will be writing on the foods we should be eating 80% of the time. If you have any questions feel free to leave a message and follow me on Instagram and Facebook for tips and encouragement!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellijo23_forever_evolve/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foreverevlove/

Ferdman, Roberto A. ( May 4, 2015). Why diets don't actually work, according to a researcher who has studied them for decades: Article retrieved https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/05/04/why-diets-dont-actually-work-according-to-a-researcher-who-has-studied-them-for-decades/.

Step 1

By KelliJo

Changing Eating Habits Step By Step

You more than likely know this but changing eating habits is really hard to do.  How many times have you said or have heard a family member or friend say “I am trying out this diet again.  I lost weight when I did it the first time but then I gained it all back.  I am going to stick with it this time.”  I don’t know why we keep kidding ourselves with diets?  It feels good when we are losing the weight and obtaining goals but once we start to slack on the diet and gain the weight back it is devastating.  If you really want to lose the weight and keep it off you have to change your eating habits. I am constantly trying to change habits to better myself whether it is for health, nutrition, fitness, spiritual growth etc., I want to always to be striving to grow and evolve.  Hence the name of my blog Forever Evolve.  There is always room for self-improvement and growth.  While this can be overwhelming it truly is worth it.  And because I know that it is worth it I want to help you.  So through my next few blogs I am giving you my step by step guide on how I changed my eating habits.

So let’s begin!

Step 1

Goals Goals Goals!

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

                                                                

                                                                                                               -Henry David Thoreau

                Why do you want to change your eating habits? Is it to lose weight?  Is it for health reasons?  Do you want to have amazing abs?  Do you want to have more energy? What is one goal that can help you change your eating habits?  If I want to change something about myself I always ask myself what NEEDS to change.  This helps me to have a clear directive on what my goal is.  For example, at this moment in my life I need to stop eating out as much as I am.  I have a rule for myself to only eat out once a week.  But over the last few months I have been eating out more and this needs to stop. So my goal will be to only eat out once a week.  So ask yourself what eating habits need to change for you and write down what your overall goal is. 

Next, I ask myself WHY.  Why am I doing this? I like to figure out the whys to my habits.  Am I over eating because I am bored?  Am I depressed so I turn to food?  Figuring out the why really helps to get to the truth of why we have this habit. So I ask myself why am I eating out more than normal? I am eating out more because I am too tired to cook dinner.  I get home and I just want to get everyone in bed so the easiest thing to do is eat out.

Now, HOW am I going to change this habit?  At this point I make a list of small goals that will help me change this habit. Small changes lead to big changes.

1.     Stop saying up late.  I average 5 to 6 hours a sleep at night.  I need to get about 8. I usually go to bed at 12 because I am watching tv.  I need to turn the tv off at 10 and go lay down.

2.    Look up 5 new dinners that are easy to prepare and make.

3.    For the next month I will try my best to only eat out 2 times a week.  Once I have succeeded in this I will then go back to once a week. 

Lastly, you have to REWARD yourself.  Once you reached your goal give yourself a pat on the back! Jump for joy! Shout it out to the world because you did it!  Now, go buy yourself a little something. Then repeat the process and find a new goal to work on.

I hope you found this to be helpful.  I would love to hear what your goals are and how you are going to achieve them.  If you liked this post do me a favor and share it! My next step will be on what foods you should be eating!