Everything in Moderation: Easing Into the 80/20 Rule to Become and Stay Healthy

One of the biggest hurdles to becoming healthy is figuring out where to begin. The insane amount of information we have at our fingertips when merely typing the search phrase "becoming healthy" into Google (527,000,000 search results, in case you were wondering) can be so mind-numbing that most of us give up before we even begin. Yes, the majority of the search results will say the same thing: "eat your vegetables, exercise, sleep more, drink water," very few of them will give you much more than some tips to try, let alone actual lifestyle changes or a framework to follow.

Another common hurdle, which I also struggle with on a daily basis, is the idea that we either have to be all-in or all-out. For years I thought that the only way out of my Standard American Diet and mostly sedentary lifestyle (being a full-time college/med school student, commuter, and working full-time between two jobs was always the crutch I used for the choices I made due to "lack of time"...sound familiar?) was to become a strict vegetarian and hit the gym every single day. Ew and ew...not happening. I come from a Austro-German Hungarian family who loves their meat, potatoes, and cake, and except for dancing weekends with our German folk dance group (what can I say, we love to polka), we would more readily get a root canal than go to the gym. I always associated the word "exercise" with any cardio-heavy exercise, which I completely detested and which further strengthened my resistance and aversion to it. My argument for not eating fruits and vegetables instead of the processed, completely artificial garbage I was funneling into my body was that no one else in the house eats it, my mom won't buy it, and if she does, my dad will throw it out. All the while I was so exhausted I could barely function without at least a 2 hour nap per day, and my brain fog was so bad even if I did try to focus, and boy did I, memorizing any information always was a monumental task.

Fast forward to my third trimester in med school, I finally decided to take advantage of the discount at our school's student clinic and booked an appointment with a Naturopathic Medicine intern. Now if you have never seen a Naturopathic Doctor (emphasis on the word doctor, not just any person who markets themselves as a naturopath), you need to. Life. Changing. God bless him, my intern listened to all of my protests, excuses, and why I couldn't be the type of healthy that is aggressively marketed to us and know I should be. He understood my hesitancy to change the habits and lifestyle choices that had become so ingrained in me that I couldn't fathom trying to change. He looked at me and said, "you don't have to jump into the deep end right away if you're not ready. We'll start small and work our way towards your goals. Start with packing one salad a day with your lunch and we'll go from there." I was dumbfounded. Surely it couldn't be that easy, could it? Yes my friends, it definitely can be that easy. Ease in, start with small changes, and build from there.

Ease Into Change
I'm a huge fan of incremental changes -- increasing the implementation of good habits and decreasing the frequency of bad habits by a percentage or amount (whichever works best for you) each week until you've eased into where you want to be. The increments can be as little or as large as you'd like them to be, and can change from week to week. For example, if you're trying to kick your Diet Coke habit, maybe weeks one and two look like this: "decrease my Diet Coke intake from twice per day to once per day in the afternoons, three times per week, and instead drink green tea those mornings." Maybe week three and four are: "decrease Diet Coke intake to once per day in the afternoons, and replace it every morning with green tea." Week five and six may look like: "continue to drink green tea every morning, and only drink Diet Coke 3 afternoons per week." Week seven and eight may be: "drink green tea only in the mornings and no caffeine in the afternoon." Now keep in mind some weeks will be easier than others, and some weeks you may fall off the wagon (it happens to each and every one of us). Remember that tomorrow is a new day, and just because you slipped up yesterday doesn't mean you throw in the towel...it just means you try a bit harder today.


Ways to ease into new dietary changes:
-pack a salad with your lunch on weekdays (try for 3 different vegetables in the salad)
-instead of throwing out junk food, eat whatever's left in the house and don't buy any more once its gone (this one is my personal favorite because I don't feel guilty about wasting money and eating the last of it)
-carry around a reusable water bottle and challenge yourself to increase your water intake by 16oz/day each week until you've reached your daily intake goal (rule of thumb is your body weight divided by 2 is the number of ounces you should be drinking each day. For example, I weigh 130 lbs, so each day I should be drinking 65 oz of water)
-cook 3 times per week instead of eating out for every meal
-make 1 meal a week meatless, focusing on dishes where veggies are the star of the show and switch that meal up each week
-swap out white bread for whole wheat bread when making sandwiches
-pack a veggie along with half the amount of chips you normally would in your lunch and eat them both instead of just eating the chips (that way you don't completely deprive yourself, but you also increased your veggie intake as well)

Ways to make new exercise changes:
-Find what type of exercise YOU like to do -- gardening, walking your dog, swimming, water aerobics, yoga, running, biking, lifting weights, dancing, treadmill, elliptical, spin classes, group fitness classes, individual workout...if it gets your body moving and increases your heart rate, it's exercise
-start by doing your exercise(s) of choice 3 times per week for 30 minutes each session
-once you've started getting into an exercise routine, incrementally increase the days per week, duration, and intensity of exercise week by week
-grab a buddy! Hold each other accountable, set goals for yourselves, and encourage each other as you work to reach your goals.
-switch it up and try something new when you feel yourself lose motivation. Last summer I got bored with my exercise routine, so I tried an aerial yoga class (the one with the silks where everyone's hanging upside down -- yes, it is as fun as it looks) and unexpectedly fell completely in love.

The 80/20 Rule in Diet and Lifestyle
The 80/20 rule has many different forms in all different subjects, but the version I'll be speaking to is for diet and lifestyle change. It works off the principle of moderation: 80% healthy choices and 20% flexibility for less healthy options. Depending on who you talk to or what sites you look at, the exact "compliant" versus "non-compliant" foods will change, but the big picture is the same: spend 80% of your time eating whole, unprocessed foods with high nutrient value such as veggies, fruits, lean protein, whole grains, healthy fats, while drinking lots of water, and save the foods that are processed, high in refined sugar and low in nutrient value (empty calories) for the other 20%. Basically, let your 80% be your weekdays where you eat clean and save the 20% for weekends when you want to enjoy a few indulgences. Exercise fits nicely into this model as well, but be sure to include relaxation time into your 20%.

Now remember that these are just guidelines and ideas, not hard and fast rules. I have found that some people respond well to rigid, unforgiving diets (think the Whole 30 diet) and exercise regimens, but the majority of us, not so much. The key is to set your goals, do your research, then tailor the principles of easing into change and the 80/20 rule to fit your lifestyle, needs, and goals. Once that's done, set a plan week per week on how you'll implement change for that week to get to where you want to be, and implement said plan. If you fall off the wagon Wednesday night because you had a piece of cake for a co-worker's birthday, you jump right back on it Thursday morning with your packed clean lunch and snacks like the cake never happened. You want to go out for margaritas and Mexican on Saturday night with the ladies, you go for it. Enjoy yourself. Start back up Monday with your 80% clean eating and exercise guilt-free. Just be sure your 20% doesn't turn into 80% because you're giving yourself too much flexibility and not holding yourself accountable. Everything in moderation.

Fast forward to today
It took some time, practice and frustration, but finally I figured out the whole 80/20 thing. After adding salads to my packed lunches, I started decreasing the amount of processed snacks and meats I was consuming (less chips, cookies, and deli meat with nitrates) and instead started packing more veggies, fruits, hormone-free dairy products (thank you Aldi!) like Greek yogurt and cheese, and healthy fats like avocados, nuts, and seeds. Instead of sugary store bought granola bars, I started to make my own with oatmeal, honey, dates, and nuts. Instead of cake and candy for dessert, I would pack some dark chocolate along. Chips are my weakness (sea salt and vinegar in particular), so I would use the strategy I listed above and pack half the amount of chips, but a full serving of sliced red bell pepper so that way I got both the chips and a veggie.

I found hot yoga in the beginning of med school and was instantly hooked, then started branching out to flow yoga, yoga with weights, and gasp! spin classes, which is the only cardio aside from swimming I will willingly participate in. I've found that group exercise works best for me because I prefer to have an instructor tell me what to do rather than go to the gym by myself without a plan and end up getting nothing accomplished. Some weeks I take classes once or twice per day, and some days I can't seem to peel my lazy ass off my sofa. Same with my diet...some weeks I cook and meal prep clean meals right down to every last snack, and some nights I end up polishing off a family-sized bag of Doritos dipped into a tub of sour cream with powdered ranch dip mixed into it for dinner. Following the 80/20 Rule, I no longer need two hour naps each day to function, my brain fog has completely lifted, and my brain and body just function better now that I'm not feeding it garbage all the time.

When I first told my family about the dietary changes I was going to work on making, they looked at me like I grew another head. Eventually when they saw how much better I was feeling, they slowly and reluctantly followed suit and found that they no longer felt like death warmed over all the time as well. My dad, who took the longest to get on board, was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes last year and has gone from living on junk food and pop to completely eliminating refined carbs and eating whole foods the majority of the time. My sisters both have autoimmune GI disorders so their dietary needs are different because there are a whole host of healthy foods they just can't tolerate (flare ups and allergic reactions), but have embraced the 80/20 rule within their limitations. My mom has an autoimmune thyroid disorder and has found that gluten makes her even more tired than she already is with the disease, and has taken steps to significantly cut back on her pasta and bread consumption except on special occasions.

But don't take my word for it...try easing into the 80/20 rule for yourself and see how after a while you not only feel better, but healthier habits all of a sudden become second nature.