Currently, there are over a hundred diets on the market right now. All with them come with the intentions of helping you lose weight, improve health, and feel better.
The lifespan of a traditional diet is weeks or months at a time. After this, the person typically falls right back into their normal eating habits. The progress they made is usually lost and they end up right back where they started.
Why is this the case?
As with any diet, the focus is on things that you can’t have. Let’s look at some popular diets and some of the foods you should avoid.
- Paleo Diet: Can’t have any whole grains, diary, or processed foods.
- Atkins Diet: Can’t have carbohydrates
- Alkaline Diet: Can’t have meat, whole grains, added sugar, dairy, processed foods, caffeine, or alcohol
- South Beach Diet: Can’t have meats like ham and brisket, breads, oatmeal, baked goods, or ice cream
- Whole30: Can’t have grains, legumes, diary, added sugar, baked goods, or alcohol
As you can see, these “foods to avoid” lists can get quite long. And that’s the problem. When we feel as though we can’t have something, we crave it. After we avoid it for so long, we break down and binge eat that specific food. Obviously that’s not healthy and it’s definitely not a sustainable long-term plan.
If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing the odds of continuing it decrease significantly. So, if you are constantly thinking of the foods you can’t have do you think you’ll enjoy the diet you’re on? Most likely not.
This begs the question, “What’s the solution to this problem?”
Enter the 85/15 approach. This is what I use and what I encourage all of my clients to use. Let me explain.
The 85/15 approach basically says if I’m consistent 85% of the time, the other 15% doesn’t really matter that much. In other words, if I eat well 85% of the time, the other 15% can be used to enjoy those “off-limit” foods and it won’t negatively impact my results.
Let’s look at this from the perspective of an average week. If I eat 3 meals per day, that’s a total of 21 meals throughout the week. Of those 21 meals, 3 of them equals 15%.
This means if I eat 18 meals that focus on the basics of good nutrition the other 3 meals can include foods that I don’t consistently eat. What are the basics of good nutrition?
In today’s day and age, that seems like a loaded question. You’re bound to hear different answers depending on who you ask. In my opinion, the basic fundamentals of nutrition boil down to these 5 things:
- Have protein at every meal: This can come from things like meats, eggs, seafood, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, protein powder, etc. Shoot for 30-50 grams per meal.
- Have fruits and veggies at every meal: Shoot for 1/2 – 1 piece of fruit and 2 fist sized servings of veggies at each meal
- Consume less carbohydrates on days you aren’t as active: You need more carbs the more active you are. Simply eat less on days you don’t do much physical activity.
- Stick to zero calorie beverages: Things like water, coffee, and tea are great.
- Enjoy treats moderately throughout the week: Stick to 12 or less per week.
So this would be 85% of your plan. For the other 15%, feel free to enjoy those foods you love. You know, the foods that most diets tell you to avoid. Things like ice cream, pizza, and baked goods.
Sounds crazy, right? That I’m telling you to eat these types foods. But notice I didn’t say eat however much you want, whenever you want. That’s not a good approach and it certainly won’t help you accomplish your goals.
The thing to remember here is it’s just 15% percent. That’s low enough where it will only make up a small portion of your overall diet and it allows you to enjoy your eating plan. And that’s why I recommend it. The focus is on quality foods but there’s still room to enjoy a treat every now and then.
This type of plan will work wonders for anyone. It isn’t restrictive so you don’t feel the need to eat every treat in site. And it also helps you stay on track and build solid nutrition habits.
I never recommended a diet to anyone. Why? Because diets never last. They’re always short-term. If you’re looking to get lean and stay that way, you need to be thinking about what you can consistently do for the rest of your life.
That’s right, the rest of your life. If you’re constantly jumping back and forth from diet to diet, you won’t sustain your results for long. You need a plan that’s repeatable, nonrestrictive, and enjoyable.
The 85/15 approach certainly fits the mold. So give this method a shot and see how much easier it can be to stick to a nutrition plan. Not only that, but how easy it can be to stay lean year round.
