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!
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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/.
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