The 80/20 diet plan is designed to allow dieters to still enjoy some of their favorite, less healthy foods in moderation.
The Freshman 15. Beer Belly. Medieval spread. Sleep handle. The terms for weight gain are endless, but whatever you call it, some of us have jumped on the dieting merry-go-round at some point in our lives in an attempt to lose weight.
Dieting is a tricky business. Anyone who has ever tried to lose pounds knows how difficult it is to give up your favorite foods and stick to a diet.
Just the word “diet” makes us feel deprived, putting us on the slippery slope of spendinghigh calorie content, foods with a high fat content.
So you'll probably like this: The 80/20 Diet is a new eating plan that gives you permission to enjoy your favorite foods, as long as you eat very healthily the rest of the time.
In "The 80/20 Diet," Australian nutritionist, chef and personal trainer Teresa Cutter writes that you can lose weight if you eat nutritious foods 80 percent of the time and allow yourself to enjoy less healthy foods the remaining 20 percent of your time. food. meals.
By nutritious, Cutter means whole, unprocessed or minimally processed foods, plenty of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains, plus plenty of water. Her book contains more than 130 recipes to help you eat healthy and lose weight.
However, keep in mind that Cutter's definition of less healthy foods may not match yours.
You've probably imagined waiting in line for delicious meals Monday through Friday and enjoying pizza and beer on the weekends. Not so fast. This diet does not allow overeating.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week equals 21 meals, so 80 percent would be 17 healthy meals.
That leaves you with four delicious options, but Cutter admits that if you indulge in pizza, fries and cheeseburgers for those four meals, you've undone all the good work of the 80 percent.
You can have that cheeseburger, she said, but don't have a Whopper and double fries.
“I think an 80/20 plan is a great approach,” registered dietitian Kristin Kirkpatrick told Healthline.
“I've seen in my own patients that willpower alone doesn't work, it just makes people want the food they're giving up even more,” she says.
"That's why it might not be such a bad thing to give yourself a little indulgence here and there. With my patients, I tend to be a little more conservative and suggest a 90/10 split."
Well-balanced menus built around everythingfruit,vegetables,lean proteins, Inwhole grainwill help you feel full and, because of its fiber and water content, keep your system running. But since weight loss is about burning more calories than you consume, you still need to practice portion control.
Talia Koren, who blogs atWorkweekLunch.com, lost 10 pounds using the 80/20 rule.
“Restrictive eating rarely makes anyone truly happy because it is extremely difficult,” Koren wrote. "A little control is good, but if you set too many rules, you end up back at square one."
Koren followed a weekly schedule, but others prefer the daily regimen of two healthy meals and snacks per day and one treat.
For Koren, the preparation and planning took a lot of time and effort, but she says the fact that nutritious food is always available (she packs her lunch and doesn't eat out often) kept her on the 80/20 track.
Another positive aspect of the 80/20 diet is that it eliminates the anxiety we often feel when indulging in non-diet foods like cupcakes, cookies, ice cream and the like.
“Losing the shame of having a favorite food every now and then can distract from an entire binge,” Kirkpatrick said.
Time and money can be a negative factor when following the 80/20 diet. Because fresh foods and good amounts of lean protein can be more expensive than packaged, frozen, canned and fast food options, you may need to stretch your budget a bit.
You also need to be organized and able to spend time preparing meals.
For example, Koren will be cooking on Sunday and Wednesday in the coming days and makes good use of closed plastic containers.
Not doing the calculations correctly can also be a disadvantage, Kirkpatrick added.
“If 20 percent becomes 40 percent and the healthy items are only within 60 percent, then you're going to be in trouble,” she told Healthline. 'It's about small amounts of things. If you start with small amounts and move into larger portions and eat unhealthy foods, this is not the plan for you.”
Diets that promise quick and painless weight loss may work initially, but they rarely stick in the long run. What works is changing your lifestyle and adjusting the way you think about food.
The 80/20 diet approaches both the physical and mental aspects of weight loss and can be a sensible, sustainable method for losing weight and staying healthy. Consider talking to a registered dietitian or healthcare provider before making any major changes to your diet.
