Eighty/Twenty x 3

Thank you so much for reading our blog. After a long hiatus, we are back and ready to build our program to be the best possible wellness resource out there. There are some basic principles we hope our clients will follow and today I am presenting my number one most important and significant tool. I call it the 80/20 plan. Now I realize that there are so many diets and rules already out there, but this is a lifestyle change that will change your life. Once you do something long enough and the benefit is evident, then it becomes a habit.
There are so many diets, rules, ideas and plans available to you, you probably feel overwhelmed. What's best for me? Nutritionists say one thing, Dr. Oz says another, the cavemen guys say eat meat, all the meat you can possibly consume, it's madness! We're here to make it easy for you. To weed out all the fads and give you the facts. Eventually once our program is up and running, we'll be able to literally walk you through step by step on how to make the changes.
My 80/20 plan has three tenets, that are easy to adopt and the rewards are endless, but mostly you'll feel better, you may be able to control some of your diseases without meds, and you'll lose weight. Plus you'll have a radiant glow to you, people may ask if you found the fountain of youth!

Here is how it's defined through Shiny Healthy People:

1) Eat by the SHP 80/20 rule. We're human, change is hard and most of us aren't super rich, so sticking to anything involving food 100% of the time is nearly impossible. When I say follow the 80/20 rule in eating, I mean 80% of the time you eat food that is whole food, plant based, unprocessed, and nutritious. Eat REAL food that is mostly vegetarian or vegan. Stay away from the fake chicken strips made from bones and pink goop, the $1.50 frozen pizza with tiny squares of who knows what pretending to be pepperoni or the diet anything, because that usually means full of chemicals the body doesn't know how to break down. Take three or four of your favorite veggies and type them into google with recipe at the end and see what pops up. Now this will require some time and you'll have to get in the kitchen and force yourself to read and follow a recipe. We will eventually have some really inexpensive, fast and easy recipes on this website as well, but for now we'll direct you to the internet.
How do I calculate the 80/20 rule in my diet?
So usually we eat 3 meals a day 7 days a week. That's 21 meals a week. If you multiply 21 x  0.80 = 16.8. Rounded up, you can have 17 meals that are WFPB (whole food plant based) and 4 that are whatever your heart desires. Many of you may have time swallowing this right away, so you can start with 50/50 or 60/40 and ease your way into it. I started with Meatless Mondays and worked from there.  You can do anything, as long as you're ready for the change. Trust me, if you can make these changes now, before you have any of the food related diseases we're treating, you'll live longer and happier with all limbs and organs working like they're supposed to.

2) Eat 80% of your calories before 3 o'clock p.m. A recent study done this year showed that people who ate most of their food before 3 pm lost more weight compared to those who ate after. Published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers followed 420 overweight dieters and tracked how much weight they lost over 20 weeks. The late eaters were also less likely to miss or eat a small breakfast and had lower insulin sensitivity, which could lead to diabetes. The participants who ate earlier lost an average of 5 lbs. more than the late eaters. So there you go, "Eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch and a pauper at dinner".

3) Eat until you are 80% full. The Japanese have a practice called "Hara hachi bu" that translates to "eat until you are eight parts (out of 10) full" or 80% full. I've been talking about this practice for years and every time I say it to my friends they ask "how do you know what is 80%?" Well you just know. This is an essential trick to losing weight too, listening to your body and slowing down. If newborns can figure it out, so can we. Babies will eat for a bit, then look around, check out the environment, look at mommy, then go back to eating, then they stop when they're full.
Always, always drink a glass of water before you start to eat, then eat slowly. Chew your food, taste your food, but really chew and taste it. Take a few seconds to enjoy what you're consuming, because food is health, not just a filler. Try your best to eat with someone else or multiple someone else's, talk about your day, muse, laugh, sing. Don't ever eat standing up. It's not a race. Chill out and enjoy. One day you will know what 80% full is for you.
Now I get it, many of us do not have the luxury of a two hour lunch plus a siesta, but even if you have 30 minutes, take the time to actually eat and focus on the food not on the chaos that surrounds your everyday madness. Try it.

So there you go. Try one, try all. Try one a day or do a 7 day challenge following all three. I want you to get off your medications, I want you to feel better about your body and yourself. I want you to be happy. I want all of these things for all of our clients, but you have to be ready and willing and when you are we will be waiting.