A lot of people I have been talking to lately have brought up the concept of an 80/20 lifestyle, mainly with the focus on diet. Being "good" 80% of the time and being "bad" 20% of the time. I am finding most of the people I talk to about this concept aren't necessarily having struggles with complying to the rules, but rather are still having issues with stress, food choices and overall balance in their lives. Why is this?
I hate to say the obvious, but it's looking you right in the face. Okay, I'll say it, because 80/20 is not a balanced equation. Seems pretty lopsided to me.
For example, Joe wakes up, has his egg whites for breakfast, barely makes it to lunch where he's starving and has a headache. He orders his overpriced kale salad with baked chicken, works out after work (if he leaves work on time to make it to the gym) and then comes home to have whatever is leftover in the fridge or orders out something overpriced and healthyish. He does this on repeat for 5 days straight and then the weekend comes. Starting with Friday night he decides to skip the gym, indulge in a bucket of wings, splits a big pretzel with buddies, throws back a 6 pack of beer followed by a few cocktails and a joint to end the night. Later in the night he decides to munch on a frozen pizza before bed, at this point he thinks why not, it's my 20% time to do and eat "bad" things. Joe wakes up the next morning, with feelings of puffiness, headache and fatigue. Okay, we will again state the obvious, Joe is hungover as hell. He spends a few hours on the coach, cracks a few beers, eats whatever he's got in the cabinets (as he's not is any state to do a proper grocery run) and then finally showers and goes out with buddies and repeats his Friday night all over again on Saturday evening. He thinks to himself, it's my 20% time to be "bad", let's continue the string of "bad" choices. Do we see where this is going?
By the time Sunday afternoon rolls around, Joe is exhausted by the "bad" choices he made throughout the weekend and now he gets to start another week of stressful meetings, long hours and family responsibility all over again. Doesn't seem like Joe is very happy during the 80% or 20% of his time. What if, just what if, Joe didn't have to categorize decisions he made as "good" or "bad", but as decisions that align with a goal or lifestyle he wanted to live? Sounds to me like Joe would be able to move towards a more balanced life without the highs and lows of extreme decisions.
If this sounds like something you have struggled with and something you would like to move on from, hit me up and schedule a call. Would love to help you create a more balanced lifestyle and ultimately a less stressful life. If you are cool with the highs and lows that seem to be unavoidable with an 80/20 lifestyle, keep the roller coaster rollin and hold on tight!
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