Sometimes, I eat potato chips that have been cooked in… soybean oil!
I know, I know. Despicable!
“You’re supposed to be the chick that eats real food!”
“What about all those GMOs?”
“Don’t you care about your health?!”
Actually, I do care. A whole heck of a lot. But over the years I’ve found that there’s one thing even more important than eating. I’ve discovered that there’s one thing that can make or break this healthy body of mine…
That thing’s called STRESS.
Stress can come in many forms.
You’ve got your emotional stress, your physical stress, and your everything-else-that’s-happening-in-your-life stress. I don’t think any of us need any more stress, am I right?
Switching to real food really helped heal my physical stress. I mean, REALLY HELPED. “See ya’ later back pain! Let’s not stay in touch, mmmkay?”
But after a while of living a perfectly perfect real food diet, I found that completely 100% avoiding packaged/GMO/restaurant foods became a bit of a Debbie Downer in my life. It started to affect my emotional stress. Would it really be that harmful if I ate some potato chips at our extended family BBQ? Would I get sick from eating some CAFO meat at a restaurant? What about birthdays? Would I need to bake an organic, GMO-free cake with organic, grass-fed, and pasture-raised cream cheese frosting?
The answer is one big fat NO!
You don’t have to eat 100% perfect
to experience some amazing healing
and rockin’ weight loss. – Me
I mean, even Mary Poppins wasn’t perfect.
That’s why I live the 80/20 Rule:
80% of the time, I eat nourishing, nutrient-dense foods. 20% of the time, I don’t worry about it.
So what does eating 80% HEALTHY and 20% CRAPPY really look like
First, let’s look at a week’s worth of eating. If you are eating 3 meals a day, 1 snack each day, and maybe 1 dessert every day, you’re eating about 5 times a day. That’s 35 different times every week you have to make food choices.
Whoa, man.
Okay, so 80% of the time (a.k.a. 28 times during the week) I work hard to choose real, nourishing, traditional food. That means I eat pasture-raised eggs, wild seafood, local meat, homemade broth, gelatin, raw whole grass fed dairy, grains, beans, lentils (prepared properly), organic fruits and veggies, good fats like grass fed butter, coconut oil, pasture-raised lard and tallow, and plenty of delicious homemade desserts made with real food ingredients. Because desserts deserve their own food group, am I right?
About 20% of the time (a.k.a. 7 times during the week), I chillax and eat white flour pasta and crusty bread at a Italian restaurant I love. I’ll eat a couple cookies my neighbor drops off, a heaping helping of potato chips at the church potluck, a handful of fishy crackers my 2-year-old nephew feeds me, a couple slices from that loaf of bread my husband bought from the store, corn chips and salsa from my fave Mexican place, etc. It’s all good.
Chillaxing about food 7 times a week doesn’t mean eating 7 crappy meals a week. That’s why I like to say I make 35 food choices a week. You’re making 7 food choices for your 20%, not eating 7 junk-filled meals. They’ll be part of a meal, a snack, or a dessert. They’ll be mediocre choices compared to the choices you make 80% of the time. But they’ll be loads better than eating a super-sized Big Mac meal with extra large fries and a Coke at Mickey D’s 7 times a week. See the difference?
The Healthy Home Rule helps you live the 80/20 rule.
The Healthy Home Rule basically means you don’t buy junk food when you go grocery shopping. If you were to take a peek in my pantry you’d see that we don’t have fruit snacks, crackers of any kind, granola bars, or really any packaged snack food. We have other packaged/canned food like pasta, jarred salsa, salmon, tuna etc, but NO snack food. Period.
We don’t buy ice cream, Oreos, fishy crackers or graham crackers. We eat nourishing food. If we want a snack (which most of the time we aren’t, because we eat really nutrient-dense meals), we’ll grab some kind of fruit, cheese, nut butter, or homemade popsicles. So delicious. And so much better than all that other junk.
The bottom line is this: Don’t plan on that 20%, and don’t use it as an excuse for bringing junk into the home. That 20% will come on it’s own simply by living in the era that we live in. Don’t be afraid of it.
Fill your life with nutrient dense foods. Experience healing. Lose weight. But don’t forget to enjoy life and let go of the little things. You’ll find life is more enjoyable, less stressful, and more delicious!
If you want to learn more about how I eat,
check out my awesome weight loss book!
OR
Click here to take a peek inside my real food fridge!
Have you ever restricted your diet too much and discovered life was more fun when it was balanced? Have you watched Mary Poppins a hundred times like me?
Thanks for your down-to-earth approach to food. I’m the exact same way except I’m nowhere near as clean with my food as you are. I eat and roast tons and veggies, take all kind of weird alternative supplements like milk thistle, turmeric, and spirulina, and I eat yogurt, 100% wheat bread, nut butters, legumes, ground turkey, etc. BUT…none of my foods are organic or grassfed because where I live, nothing close by sells anything like that unless I want to drive for an hour and spend a bazillion dollars at Whole Foods or Earth Fare. I know I’m doing better than most people and I’m doing the best that I can do without making me grow mentally insane. I think if I let it get to me, I would be so unhappy. Thanks for sharing your story on how important mental and emotional health are in regards to our food.
That still sounds like a really great diet! Keep up the good work!
Amen, sister! I haven’t found many articles like this, but I say it to people everyday. I’m the one who “eats organic” and feeds her child “only natural” and for a while that was pretty much 100% true. And I was STRESSED! Mental health is ~at the LEAST~ just as important as physical health. It feels good to be a little more relaxed about things, and it’s also funny to see how a little bag of Fritos at a birthday party or out at the zoo once in a while does not have a life or death effect on my child. 😉 Thanks for writing this!! – Amanda
Thanks for your insights! I too have been eating a lot better. I have completely given up any fast food, avoid most fried foods, make only about one sweet pastry/bread/baked good per week, 99% given up cola, do not buy chocolate or candy, have switched to 1% organic milk, and have been doing every possible fruit and veggie organic. I’ve also almost given up anything caffeinated. It’s helped my completion a lot, I have more natural energy, and am overall in a better mood! I think that the average consumer needs to be very picky about what they’re putting into their bodies. Best of luck to all of those trying to better their health and diet!
“It is better to eat the wrong foods with the right state of mind than to eat the right foods with the wrong state of mind.”
True!
Lol. About three times a year I get a big bag of these really good potato chips from costco and eat the whole bag myself. ( but not all at once and I don’t have anyone to share them with) My excuse is “because, too bad, I want them.” Not sure if they are gmo. I hope not. They have sea salt instead of chemical salt. I’m going to attempt to grow some good organic burbank russet potatoes in my very limited garden space this year and see how well I can make some of my own.
Yum! Now that sounds delicious!
Totally agree with you. Great article. We went through a discovery period with this when we first discovered how toxic industrial “food” is. At first you want to avoid everything, then you realize how life alteringly hard that is, then you feel overwhelmed. That is where we lose most people in this I think – they quit and pretend everything is okay because it is too hard. I’ve seen it many times. The 80/20 rule makes this task doable.
The only difference for us, is we have one exception: strive for 100% avoidance of BT corn. There should be no exceptions when it comes to a plant that produces it’s own pesticides at the cellular level. You absolutely do not want any of that stuff getting inside of you.
I love your 80/20 rule. We’ve been making the switch to Real Food in the past few months but my kids (4 year old twins and 2 years old) have always eaten small meals throughout the day. I would love to get to the point where they don’t need many snacks/small meals but unfortunately we are not there yet. I’m really struggling with healthy snack options. They love whole wheat waffles and yogurt as well as whole wheat pumpkin and ww zucchini muffins from 100 days of real food. They also eat nuttzo or peanut butter on homemade bread or apples with cheese. We make trail mixes with almonds, cashews and dried fruit. Do you have any specific snack/small meal ideas to share???
What a great article! I don’t normally comment on articles but just had to say thanks for sharing! Living a healthy lifestyle is not a destination, its a journey..and there will be bumps along the way…stress is harder on the body than the odd potato chip!
Thanks so much!! I needed to hear this. I’m an 8-month cancer survivor and if I don’t eat healthy all the time, I think my cancer will come back. I need to chill-out, enjoy life and remember the 80/20 rule! Thanks for the reminder!!
I love Mary Poppins! The 80/20 rule doesn’t seem at first to work for me – like just one fudging with grains or potatoes means being stiff and achey or having a sinus infection the next day. I can’t fudge – I have Lyme’s disease. These whole food, paleo diet things are true survival for some people and not just choice! But I realized I still do this rule because even if I have to eat lots of vegetables, I can’t buy them all organic all the time, and when they’re not organic, I give them a normal washing and don’t stress out. I’ll buy canned beans with BHT in the packaging once in awhile, drain the juice and add them to the pot with gratitude for time saved on soaking and boiling. The point is to feel healthy and energetic, and trying to eat perfectly can wipe out budget and energy too fast! Thanks 🙂
This is amazing and encouraging to know. First time on your blog… I love it!
http://www.sheadygoods.com
Spot on PERFECT!
How do you balance your meals by intuition? I have also removed GMOs and snack foods from our home , purchase organic produce and pastured meats, eggs and dairy. We make our own icecream and sprouted goodies etc. I’m not worried about the quality of our food choices anymore but I’m finding that my kids like bread, pasta, eggs and possibly some occasional protein and some fruit and lots of icecreamà how do you balance so that you are eating enough nutrients from varied foods? 80% nutrient dense food from one or two food groups in my house it seeme.
I just don’t over think it. I’m confident I’ll get enough nutrients with a balanced diet. Our ancestors didn’t have to count each protein or carbohydrate gram, so I don’t think we need to either:)
Question: Do you and your husband work?
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Huh. So that’s what 80/20 looks like. I always wondered what the “definition” of that was, seeing as though everyone always says they’re 80/20. In reality, I probably eat 95/5 but last weekend was probably about 65/35. It helps ease the mental stress to know that I was as off-road as I thought!
I figure I’m an 80/20 too! I think that is really what makes my lifestyle sustainable for me. Some weeks it varies but overall I follow it. It could be an ingredient I use when cooking, or the ice cream out with the kids, or the dinner out with my husband that deviates me from clean eating but in the grand scheme they keep me happy and from creating a hate relationship with food.
What a wonderful and helpful post! That thing called STRESS is all too real if we strive for 100% perfection.
your thoughts sound exactly like mine! Took me awhile to realize that too. and i love that thinking! THANK YOU for sharing! <3
THANK YOU! Through your post I’ve come to realize that I’ve been trying to stay too close to the 100% mark and that I should cut myself some slack! Thus, I shall not feel (too) bad about the crackers and pasta and beer I had yesterday at a pool party! Although….my body sure made it clear that it would appreciate it if I staggered the 20%…. 🙂
A great post! I needed this! 80/20 is my goal, but I can’t say I always get there. I just keep telling myself how far I have come:)
I am SO GLAD you explained this! I was doing as close to 100% as I could get, and trying to keep my kids around 90% (They get junk at school and family gatherings, etc.)Then I started getting really stressed. I have five kids so it was getting really hard to monitor and prepare all the food going into everyone’s mouths! In my experience that leads to illness! Too much stress! So I’m going to adopt your perspective! Thanks!
Totally! Sometimes real food can be real crazy if you worry about each little food:)
Funny you should mention it… I went from hard-core to about 80/20 to burnout and began buying junk. Like potato chips to make lunch more interesting. They are a more healthful variety, all-natural, but still! I even ate a milky way bar. Sick. And a few other things here and there, for about the last month. Well, this morning I woke up and got a glimpse of myself in the mirror and gulped. Got on the scale and saw I was up 3 pounds. I don’t stress about weight and that’s not why I went for healthier choices, but that extra blob of grossness around my love handle and gut area is definately sending a message! 80/20 is definately the perfect compromise! Thanks for an excellent post.
I really appreciate this post. I’m just transitioning from eating take out/fast food to eating home prepared meals more often, and already the difference in the way I feel is astounding. That being said…I have a husband who eats like a toddler. Even though I don’t buy junk when I go grocery shopping, he goes by himself and buys it. We’re learning, though, and I think we’ll get better.
Great article! I love to entertain, throw parties, and go out. I was struggling mentally how to reconcile all of this (the lifestyle change is fairly recent). Thank you, thank you! (P.S. I am positively in love with your blog!)
I have a hard time if I go too strict because then I want to eat every bad thing in the place. I, however, eat a lot more than 20% of the junk…and I’m working on that. Part of the issue is getting it completely out of the house…I’ll get there, but it is a work in progress and is a whole lot better than it was a year ago! 🙂 Thanks for the tips and the fess-up! I know it helped me, because I tend to think, “I’m the only one who isn’t good 100% of the time!” Now I know that I’m not! Thank you! 😀
Yes, it’s definitely a work in progress:)
I am closer to 50/50…on a good week. I know what to eat and what is nourishing but getting it in is tough for me. It takes time to prepare and that causes me stress a lot. We are good about leaving junk food in the store. Great advice!
I hear that. I have a 3 month old and I found I was beating myself up for not soaking the grains. Then, I started worrying because our water wasn’t filtered. Then, I noticed my butter was organic but privately made which probably meant bad. Then I went…WHOA! Hold it there girl! There’s something wrong when you are working to be healthier and it is making you stress, Lol!! Plus, I have heard from reputable sources that in fact not taking care of stress (by not having fulfilling relationships, meaningful work, creativity, etc.) in your life can be more dangerous to your heart health than the food you eat.
I love this. “80/20” is my mantra. So many of us beat ourselves up over every single bite that goes in our mouths and, as you say, it does way more harm than good. I’d even go as far as to say 80/20 is the goal. Sometimes there might be a 70/30 or even a 60/40 week here or there (having a tree fall on our house, everyone covered with poison ivy and a ant swarm explosion in one week made last week a bit of a 60/40 around here!) but never let perfect be the enemy of good.
mmm hmmm. love this post. can i just say i really appreciate your balanced attitude. you present good info and a realistic, moderate approach. thanks! i always enjoy break downs like this because sometimes i wonder if i’m doing enough.
Thanks!