You hear all of the time that the rule of thumb for healthy eating is 80 percent Fit Foods and 20 percent Fun Foods. But have you ever stopped to figure out what this would look like in your week? Many of you may be eating more like 40/60, 50/50, or 60/40 and you don’t even realize it!
Start with how many meals you eat most days of the week, multiply that by 7 days. Take this number and multiply it by 20 percent to figure how many Fun meals you can enjoy. For demonstration purposes I used a 75/25 rule above with three meals and a snack each day and that allows for 7 Fun meals to insert throughout the we week. Personally, I like to keep Monday, Tuesday tight because I’m more motivated and we rarely have social events on these days. I prefer to have some wiggle room a couple of days during the week but have the most flexibility on the weekends when I’m spending time with family and friends. This isn’t what you have to do, it’s just what works best for me. You could have a Fun meal each day or you could eat well all week and enjoy the entire weekend, but that means no slip ups during the week. This is probably my least favorite method because I know it isn’t realistic to go 5 days straight without going off plan, plus if I go off on a bender for two days straight, it’s REALLY hard to jump back into nutritious foods on Monday. For some people this works though!
Variations of 75/25
One Fun Meal Each Day
Another Option: Perfect all week, cut loose on the weekend
I know this may seem meticulous, maybe even a little overwhelming but I’m hoping that you start to put some thought into Fit Foods vs Fun Foods. A fun coffee, a candy bar from the breakroom, or appetizers at happy hour can add up! You don’t have to jump straight into 80/20, start by focusing on incorporating a nutritious meal a couple of extra times each week. It’s important to note that you should still be mindful of calories. If you want to lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit (eat less than the energy you burn in a day) and if you want to maintain, you need to eat about the same as what you burn. As you eat more nutritious food you will naturally eat less calories but still be satisfied.
Are you someone that learns by doing instead of by reading tips and guidelines? The Fit But Fun Memberships include a calorie calculator to help you figure how many calories you should be eating and you receive meal guides each week to keep you on track the majority of the time! Finding nutritious foods you enjoy eating is the key to increasing your Fit Food intake!
Tried 80/20?
Let me know what you think about my take on the 80/20 rule!
Tag me on Instagram so I can see how you do it!
