Perhaps you had a couple of easter eggs this weekend. I know I did- it’s common to look back at this with feelings of shame or guilt. What I hope to achieve from this week’s newsletter is the understanding that it simply doesn’t matter if sometimes you indulge, what’s important is our long-term decisions and remaining consistent with our intentions and corresponding actions.
Consistency as a whole.
Consistency is crucial when it comes to dieting as it aids the establishment of healthy eating habits and helps you to stay on track with your weight loss goals. If you are consistent with your diet, you’re more likely to see results over time, and with visible progress, your motivation to continue making healthy choices often increases.
Here are a few reasons why it’s so important:
- It helps you establish a new lifestyle: By consistently making healthy choices, you can establish new eating habits that can help you maintain your weight goal in the long term.
- Consistency helps you stay on track: When you are consistent with your diet, you are less likely to give in to cravings or overindulge, which can potentially derail your efforts.
- Avoid the yo-yo effect: With inconsistency, you may lose weight quickly at the beginning, but you are also more likely to gain it back just as quickly. By being consistent, you can avoid the yo-yo effect and maintain your weight goal over time.
- The 80/20 Concept
The 80/20 rule is a popular approach that suggests that you should aim to eat healthy, nutrient-dense foods 80% of the time and allow for more flexibility or indulgence the remaining 20% of the time.
The idea behind it is to create a sustainable and balanced approach to eating that allows you to enjoy the foods you love without feeling guilty (which is never how you should feel about food) or deprived. It also allows for some flexibility in your diet, which can help you stick to your plan long-term.
80/20 in practise-
Here are a few examples of how the 80/20 rule might work in practice:
If you are trying to lose weight, you might aim to eat healthy, nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains 80% of the time and ‘allow’ for more indulgent foods the remaining 20% of the time.
Not worrying about what you eat for a wedding or perhaps a bank holiday weekend because you know you’ve been consistent recently.
Take out! Having take out every now and then- sometimes we are busy, don’t want to cook, forget supermarkets close early on bank holidays, OR just fancy a takeout! This fits into the 80/20!
It’s important to note that the 80/20 rule is not an excuse to overindulge or make unhealthy choices 20% of the time. Rather, it’s a way to create a sustainable and balanced approach to eating that allows for some flexibility and enjoyment while still prioritising nutrient-dense, healthy foods the majority of the time.