YOU ONLY GET OUT WHAT YOU PUT IN: Why the 80/20 Approach to Dieting May Sabotage Your Goals

Recently, I had a prospective client contact me and ask if I believe in the 80/20 approach. When it comes to this approach the reason I am not an advocate is explained below. However, I do believe for the purpose of maintenance this can make sense. If you have already achieved the body you have longed for than fine.  But, if you are still striving to get leaner and you want to accelerate your results, this program may not be the right solution for you. When clients comes to me and describes their goals, they also begin to orientate their actions towards that goal. A clear vision is key to pulling it towards you and making it a reality. The path requires a steadfast focus and it’s important, until you build up enough strength, to remove the obstacles that weaken you. In the case of food, the obstacles, in my opinion, are the 20%. That 20% I am referring to are what this program permits. It’s the sugar addictions, the things you crave, the indulgences that keep your calorie counts high. It all seems too good to be true and I believe it is. There may be a time and place for this, but a lot depends on your body type, as well and where you are at when you begin this type of program. Overall, you must keep your eye on the prize and not on what detours you. The reason most dieters are not succeeding, and remain stuck doing the yo-yo dance, in my experience is because they have not accepted that they must make sacrifices in order to succeed. This involves letting go of the need to hang on to that 20%.  It is those who recognize how important it is to let go of the things that no longer serve them that they have a light bulb moment and begin to do the meal prepping and exercises that are required to break through to that next level.

Anything that is sabotaging your efforts should not be on the table and needs to be elminated. It’s the weakest link. One week or another day off leads to hormonal havic. The body can’t keep up with all the confusion and cross-wired signals. You have to determine if you want results at a snail pace or an accelerated version? Rationalizing is what I we do that leads to procrastination. It is all relative to how lean you really want to look. This approach is unlikely to lean you out and you risk hitting a wall. The same wall you always hit when dieting because usually that 20% is the place you need to clean it up to achieve results that are not average, but impressive.

1) You can not realistically achieve your goals because it encourages a lack of the discipline vs what it really takes to succeed and achieve continued progress. This only happens by committing to your efforts 100%. Even those who are committed at 100% have set backs. If you are having set backs at 20%, which most still do than that makes it 70/30 and 60/40, now doesn’t it? If I athletes approached their competitions this way, how far would they get?

2) This program is appropriate for those who have already reached their goals and want to maintain their results. I agree that dieting needs to be more of a lifestyle approach, but this type of thinking could make it an eternity to achieve measurable desired results. When it takes a long time to achieve something it is easy to get discouraged and lose our patience. We then move on to the next best thing. It’s human nature. No one wants to be a dog chasing it’s own tail.

3) 20% is likely not to encourage, but statistically speaking, is more likely to sabotage your efforts. Most people dieting do not have enough will power to rely on this free style method that lacks structure. If I can cheat 20% of the time and eat whatever I want, it’s going to be very hard to redirect myself back to clean eating. It makes it easy to excuse myself. That 20% will trigger most dieters, since many have not built up the defenses to say no and resist temptations.  This can lead to yo-yo dieting and binge eating, which often means the dieter gains double. Their body and mind rebel against them.

4) The majority of those embarking on a weight management program of some sort want structure, tracking and accountability. There is no timing of macros involved here, which is huge when it comes fat loss and the gain of lean muscle. We need to know exactly how we can measure up to our goals. It’s when we let ourselves slide that rather than see continual progress. our results are going up and down and we don’t know why.  We have no way of understanding what food choices do work and which don’t. How much of this and how little of that? Eating for exercise and performance requires precision. Timing is what you need to perform well with exercise and to ensure your metabolism stays balanced. Having a solid baseline is essential.

 5) It is a gimmicky catch phrase and just another fad diet.  Celebrity so and so is doing it, but how many of them are not struggling with their weight either since they are always maintaining their great physiques overall. As I said before, this may work best as a MAINTAINANCE PLAN.

6) I believe you will hit a wall with this approach and not be able to go all the way.  It can enable a weakness and in my books make it worse. Wouldn’t we all love it if the body responded that easily and we really never had to discipline ourselves to achieve our goals? I hear the angels singing now!

Yes, it is a very attractive proposition for those who struggle with discipline and want to take the easy way out. Mental training is where it is at when it comes to achieving goals and overcoming our internal and external obstacles. We need to have confidence in ourselves and believe we can achieve greater levels of discipline and self-mastery. We have to know we are capable of letting go of the things that temp us. This is the great lesson of dieting. It teaches us how to handle the obstacles that come our way.

7) Most goals take precision and dieting for fat loss or the gain of lean muscle.  The fact is that very 20% is holding most, “healthy” eaters, back. Understanding the science behind food and how it effects your body reminds you of the importance of working with nature and eating with purpose. There is also artistry involved in shaping your body with weight training and how to use cardio for optimal fat reduction. This is no different than someone going on a diet that requires no exercise. You may lose weight, but your skin may hang off your bones if you lack muscle. If we want to muscle up so our skin is tight we have to accept the other side of the equation and that’s adding in weight training. This point also explains why I am not a big fan in putting all your trust in macro or calorie counting.  These are all very GENERIC terms that we are now calling programs. Achieving body fat reduction and shaping goals require a level of discipline and understanding your bodies relationship to food. The body doesn’t change it’s mind 20% of the time to accommodate your need for ice cream. If you eat the ice cream post workout than it would make more sense. You will burn off the calories and the sugars can bring your metabolism back to balance at that time.

Let’s be honest ! What good relationship with anything works off of an 80/20 baseline? Would your boss allow that? Would your spouse allow that? Well maybe in some “weird or rare” cases. If you want to transform your body and work on training your mind begin with this, “no excuses”. Accept that you have work to do ahead and it is going to take even longer if you don’t commit fully to what you must do to achieve your goal.  Begin your efforts by taking on the obstacle one at a time! Rather than go for a burger, go for something that will bring you satiety. You won’t even want the bad stuff if you fill yourself up with the good stuff. The 20% you believe you need can really be a need for something else. Spend that 20% enjoying moments in your life by being more present and always look to feed your body, mind and soul with nourishing choice that serve your body and give you peace of mind. The strength you need for will power comes when you gain the confidence you need to succeed. Overcoming the obstacles with this confidence and faith in yourself is the path of the peaceful weight management warrior.