80/20 Principle
For anyone who’s ever adopted a new diet plan for weight loss or overall health, it’s a familiar nightmare. The backdrop varies (an all you can eat buffet, holiday party, dark and silent kitchen in the middle of the night), but the suspense is universal. The temptation, a mental struggle, the cautious scanning of the room. A subliminal background track climbs in crescendo. You give into the slightest slip, a minor indiscretion, really, and suddenly there you are, dropping through a trap door, plummeting down a dark, cavernous shoot, screaming in terror, only to fall into a sorry heap of shame at the fiery center of the earth (or other subconscious setting for doom or disgrace).
Though the vision itself is imaginary, the performance anxiety is often real. “Will I measure up?” “Can I hack it?” “How can I be that strict 100% of the time?” Questions (and doubts) abound for many as they contemplate a diet and lifestyle overhaul, including the Primal Blueprint. Perfectionism, the letter of the law, looms large in these moments.
We’ve tackled the angst-ridden questions, taken on the transition trials before, but there’s an overarching PB principle to be noted here. The Primal Blueprint, as we say, is all about Primal living. Living. Enjoying. Even chilling out. This is not a lab controlled experiment or a boot camp. No interns in white coats with clip boards will show up at your door or spy on you. No screaming sergeants will get in your face. As we’ve noted before – on a personal level, it’s your own process, your own journey. But even at the heart of its philosophy, the PB isn’t an austere all or nothing proposition. Enter the 80/20 principle….
We often say, “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” And for good reason. The target of the PB is deep-seated: the long haul of a healthful life, not a brief stop off for cosmetic fixes. The necessary approach, then, is centered around sustainability. One hundred percent compliance with PB principles is ideal, sure, but consider it the ultimate representation – a consummate form rather than typical daily function. The PB is rooted in life, not just research, after all. A practical baseline is this: if you align your life with the PB principles 80% of the time, consider yourself on course.
However… Even though 100% compliance isn’t the exact everyday expectation, 100% commitment is the intention. While we concede that real life happens, the acknowledgement is a necessary reality check, not an easy excuse. PB living does require steady commitment, genuine effort and daily dedication. But the key here is personal commitment – a primal “lens” you develop and learn to view decisions through. Think of your PB transition and continuing evolution in terms of process-oriented goals rather than the rigid commandments of typical diet plans. Give your PB plan 100%, and understand it’s O.K. when daily life moderates the overall picture. An 80% end result will have you well on your way to success and sustainable health.
That said, some aspects of the Blueprint do call for consistent adherence in the interest of meaningful impact. Particular among these is avoidance of processed carbs. The fact is, the physiological effects of processed carbs simply are harsher and harder to recover from – especially when they’re a regular player in the body’s daily functioning. It’s not that your body can’t bounce back. It’s just an unnecessary detour in your progress – a diversion and interruption (albeit temporary) in the physiological homeostasis that maximizes hormonal balance, fat burning and energy consistency.
As you continue the Primal transition, you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised. Taste buds have a strange way of adapting themselves. Once you’re off the physiological sugar roller coaster, the psychological habit has a way of falling by the wayside. You find recipes, workouts, stress management practices you genuinely enjoy. In fact, you miss them if you have to or choose to skip a day. You actually look forward to getting back to the routine. After learning/relearning how a good night’s sleep can make you feel, you’re now unwilling to go without it unnecessarily. Earnest perseverance facilitates compliance, which begins to come naturally. You see and feel the benefits. Going backward seems unrewarding.
Rest assured, in the course of the transition you’ll make the pieces fit comfortably into your own life. As a lifestyle and process-oriented plan, the PB inherently cultivates an internal compass.
PB living will become less about regimen and more about natural gravitation toward the lifestyle that offers vitality and balance. Eventually, the process will take on its own momentum and actually require less effort and thought over time.
The take home message is this. The PB is not a white knuckle ride. Loosen the grip, look for smart adjustments, absorb the overall vision and weave it into your life instead of nailing it over top your old habits.
And remember that the essence of the Blueprint (and its success) is found in the overall picture – your own encompassing and idiosyncratic embodiment – not the collection of minute details. (No checklists here.) It’s less about what you do at any one meal or single bout at the gym and more about what you do over the course of a given week or month. Think the spirit rather than letter of the law. Where full commitment and full life intersect – that’s the seat of the Primal success and the logic of its 80% principle.
How does the 80% principle play out in your Primal lifestyle? Share your thoughts and questions on the concept.
Posted By: Worker Bee
I personally try not to feel guilty, because I think it just leads to more problems like binging and staying off track. I refuse to give up any food permanently, because it’s a recipe for failure and guilt. I think about how much better my diet is now, and I don’t consider 85% chocolate a bad thing at all. And if I indulge, you bet it’s going to be a fatty croissant, not something unenjoyable like brown rice or black beans. I make the rare indulgences count! Not sure about people who used to be obese, but personally my body seems to handle it fine. I think it’s important to have a diet that’s sustainable and enjoyable in the long run, and this works for me.
re: “fatty croissant” I have been wondering lately if one must indulge in breads that things like croissants aren’t the way to go? If you look (in nutritiondata.com) at the N6:N3 ratio of a Butter Croissant 3:1 and French Bread 16:1 it makes one wonder if grains could be a reasonable cheat provided they are supplemented with a healthy serving of animal fat.
Mark, I just pre-ordered your book.
Thanks a bunch for your wonderful blog. It’s been inspiring to me, even if my application of your principles has been more like 10/90.
I will work on reversing those numbers.
Cheers all,
Christoph
Of course we’re not exactly the same as humans 5,000 years ago.
That’s one of the reasons why natives (and I’m part North American native) have more diabetes, heart disease, and even alcoholism than caucasions: They’ve had only a couple hundred years to adjust to a high grain-and-sugar-based carbohydrate diet, whereas Europeans, Asians, etc., have had several thousand years.
Regardless, the MAJORITY of genes in any of the above populations are from the Paleolithic. It’s still a healthier diet overall for most everybody.
But, yes, a Chinese man will probably do better on a rice-based diet than will, say, an Inuit.
Both would be better off with meats, veggies, and berries.
And Paleo man did find starches where possible. I’ve lived off the land, as a teenager, in Canada. I used tuberous veggies.
Still, you COULD NOT get enough calories to survive a Canadian summer much less winter without animal protein and especially fat.
The natives here ate tons of both, and especially the latter.
And I’m in southern Canada on the coast. That’s even more true up north.
Oh, and further to the humans evolving thing.
Duh. Yes. We are.
There’s lots of cross-genes too, with air travel, etc., so people of different geographic origin are getting together more than ever before.
Further, lots of people are dying young due to their diets.
So, natural selection being what it is, those people are passing their genes along less for 2 reasons:
1. Early death
2. Sexual selection — obesity and ill health not being as attractive as their counterparts
I’m certain that there is evolution going on with those people who can tolerate a fast food, high sugar, diet reproducing more.
But is it their ideal diet?
I think not.
And if you, like myself, have genes that respond poorly to these things, does it make sense to throw up our hands and say, “Well, that’s evolution at work! It’s a beautiful thing, ain’t it?”
Or does it make more sense to eat according to one’s genetic make-up, eating the kind of healthy foods humans evolved on?
And humans did not evolve on white floor, white rice, etc. Mark isn’t saying there have been no genetic changes in 5,000 years.
That would be stupid.
He’s saying the majority of our genetic heritage comes from the hundreds of thousands of years before 5,000 years ago, which is verifiably true.
And for SOME people, like myself, a chunk of my genes came from people who were eating a hunter-gatherer type diet a mere 100 or so years ago.
Agree with a lot of this. Mark is an idealist, that’s what we pay him for! Grok would probably have been more of an opportunist. I have this picture of him scarfing down a McDonalds because it was there, then barfing it back up and going in search of some real food.
I tend to stay on plan most of the time but for example I just followed my fish and sea vegetables with some 85% chocolate and a cup of coffee, yesterday I had a glass of red wine with my organic beef sausages and asparagus. Sometimes I eat far too may carbs when I’m out. I always regret it afterwards, and like a lot of you I simply no longer enjoy things like pizza that I used to.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. If anything the odd indiscretion is a wake-up call as to why I do what I do the rest of the time, keeps me to 90/10
Oh yeah, about the evolution thing, since Ancel Keys I believe we have all been placed in a giant Eugenics experiment where only the carb tolerant shall survive.
I crave protein a lot even if there are awesome breads or cakes around (which I love).
I’d like to know if anyone has the same problem as me. Once you start it’s tough to stop. If I don’t “need” cake, I’ll skip it. However, if I have one tiny piece, I find that I’ll want more. Or some other carb. Same with red wine. If I have more than 1-2 glasses I want other processed carbs. Odd. I thought it was alcohol impairing my judgement (LOL) but no I think it is driven by my insulin reaction. Thoughts?
Wow! I’m glad someone else goes by the 80/20 rule….. I try to get my clients to understand this principle by seeing the big picture of sticking to the 80/20 whole heartedly!!! No slacking or it’s the 70/30, or 60/40 rule.You just have to stick to your guns and hold on, it’s not easy. If it was, every one would be thin and in perfect shape.Sit down figure out what 80% of your meals would be and make them your good ones, now allow yourself 20% of slack for those times to be human and live a little. Then get right back on track and stick to your 80%!
Jodie
CSCS/Personal Trainer
Haywood Regional Health & Fitness
MuscleMassGainingTips
The way I look at 80/20 is not exactly to just have a cheat day when I eat whatever I want. Instead 80/20 is part of my daily life, I try to follow the diet as close as possible (don’t eat potatoes, rice, pasta, processed food, etc) but I do still have one piece of sprouted whole grain bread with my lunch and maybe 1 small scoop of steel cut oatmeal for breakfast (i lift weights in the gym and don’t get the required energy just from protein and vegetable alone, i try to listen to my body). Sometimes, a greek yogurt with frozen berries as a snack. Small amounts of bread and oatmeal fall under my 20. Still way better than an average American diet with piles of white carbs. Also, I enjoy a glass of red wine, good strong beer, dark chocolate, small piece of good aged cheese, sometime even a small amount of good whiskey here and there. All of these also fall under my 20.
It was really hard at first to make the transition. I got on and off it a few times.
But I knew what I wanted and at some point, this shift happened in my mind and I stopped making excuses.
i am glad for the 80/20 i’m new to PB and it feels more approachable and doable than any other food change i have done. there is a lot to change in foods i eat, habits and even understanding the concepts. so the 80/20 gives me a base to start off from and the more i learn and understand AND feel good i think i can strive for 90/10, then 100%. but i do agree sometimes life happens whether it’s good like celebrating a special birthday or bad like a funeral. and it’s not when we fall that matters it’s how we rise in the end and move forward.
Challenges first 2 months going Primal, and remaining focused.
Fancy dinner at Italian restaurant with fresh baked bread. I ordered grilled salmon on a bed of mixed greens..Yum! Weekly breakfast at local diner, used to order eggs, buttered toast, sausage and home fries, coffee with Splenda. Now I order, 2 poached eggs, w/2 strips of bacon, black coffee and hot sauce.
Pot luck dinner at friends house, was fasting that week, so I ate nothing.
I spent all Saturday creating 8 different dishes, from Spanish, Indian and Italian influences and freezing them. No, they are not for me, they are for my husband, so I have more time to cook the new veggie recipes and not be concerned with cooking 2 seperate meals in one night.
Every challenge motivates me to stick to Paleo options …you can always find and alternative and fasting is still very new to me, but skipping a meal will not harm me.
Thanks for the easy recipes.
I’ve never analysed 80-20 principle in weight loss context. Great article, opened a new facet to me. Thanks.
I’ve been reading many of the comments here and I’m sure there is no one right answer for everyone. What might work for one person might not for someone else. As for myself, I have an all or nothing mentality as well, which means, I can’t just have a ‘bit’ of my favourite treats, such as sweet stuff, nuts, nut butters, bananas, or a combination thereof. I hardly eat non-primal foods (even if I eat bread, it’s either sprouted wheat or really dark rye with no sugar or syrup), but ‘trigger foods’ don’t necessarily have to be complete junk. Being off sick for 3 days now taught me a lesson though: less cardio equals a lowered appetite for sugary/energy dense foods. Lesson learned: may cut back even further next week and see how it affects my cravings..
So true: “You find recipes, workouts, stress management practices you genuinely enjoy. In fact, you miss them if you have to or choose to skip a day.”
I had to skip a week of strength training work-outs due to a forearm injury. One day, I woke up and realized I had been working out in my dreams. That’s how I knew I was ready to start up again!
Hey guys i’m a vegetarian by choice, but i really want to try the primal way…eating meat makes me sick, is there any way i can do this without meat?
Hi! Very thought-provoking comments! As a 50 y/o menopausal woman who has dieted on & off for my adult life, I would truly love to hear from women my age who have adopted this life-style! It all sounds great but it seems more successful w/ younger males.
I then go on to read some of Ray Peat’s work as I am suspicious that I may have hypothyroidism (hypoglycemia, increasing weight gain, high cholesterol, HTN, triglycerides are climbing etc). I’ve been reading stuff on IF & it seems intriguing but it has it’s dark side as well (esp in folks w/ history of eating disorders).
It’s all so CONFUSING! I do want to be healthier & fit but sometimes I just want some spaghetti & garlic bread!
Hey, I’m all for cutting out the processed crap, getting off my ass for some exercise, but after literally years of intermittent dieting, I have hit a hard psychological wall. I cannot weigh, measure or journal one more thing! I would rather poke my eye out with a steak knife than weigh or journal one more freakin’ bite or sip!
So my long winded ramble is really a plea to hear from my menopausal sisters who do not have histories of serious EDs & ask if the Primal Lifestyle works for them? I don’t need to be an Amazon Queen or a Cougar Model! That said, though, I don’t want to be a frumpy middle-age fat-assed lethargic cow. How do I incorportae this into my real-life? Should I? I’m also very interested to hear who Intuitive Eating works with the Primal Life-Style?
Thanks for reading! Much obliged!
Kerrie
I haven’t had a problem giving up sugary stuff since I never liked sweets, but it’s the complex carbs that will do me in.
I couldn’t give up my red beans and rice a few dinners per week or my curry potatoes. Given, I don’t eat much, just a bowl about the size of my hand. But still, it probably exceeds the 20%.
Is that an acronym? I hope so, because I always get nervous when people capitalize an entire word for no apparent reason.
I don’t think Mark, or anyone here, ever disputed that starches played a role in the early human diet. Roots and tubers are included in the PB’s dietary section, and sweet potatoes/yams are “allowed.” They just weren’t the staples. And grains? I’m sure they sampled them (otherwise, how would we know to start growing them 10k years ago), but they certainly didn’t form a significant part of the diet. And when they did begin to form a big part of our diet? We can tell by the fossils – tooth decay, stunted growth, weaker bones, all markers of poor health.
I guess I’m not clear what you’re attempting to argue. Do you dispute that a diet high in fat, meats, whole fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, and berries is optimum for the human animal? Our claim is not that mankind is being wiped out by the foods of agriculture; obviously, we’ve managed to survive okay. Our bone is that we aren’t living as well or as healthily as we possibly can. We’re just getting by, if you can call historic levels of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other degenerative diseases “getting by.” We’re slowly wasting away.
And you contend that we’ve adapted to starches, sugars, and grains – correct? Even if we grant you that, you surely don’t assert that we’ve adapted to vegetable oils, trans fats, processed food, refined carbs, and margarine – most of which has only been available to the human genome for less than a hundred years? On the flipside, do you contend that saturated fat – of which our body fat is primarily composed and which has been an integral part of the human diet for tens of thousands of years – is damaging to our health?
Just trying to get your perspective.
Also from Harpending: “The invention of agriculture 12,000 years ago changed our diet and changed our social systems. If you suddenly take hunter-gatherers and give them a diet of corn, they frequently get diabetes. We’re still adapting to that. Several new genes we see spreading through the population are involved with helping us prosper with high-carbohydrate diet.”
Diabetes is a huge problem in our decidedly sedentary society. Corn is in just about every bit of processed food you can find, too. There appears to be some connection, no? Your guy seems to agree.
Well, while “we’re still adapting” to a high carb, high sugar diet, I think I’ll abstain and go with the proven method of staying healthy. But please, feel free to play guinea pig. With every can of corn you eat, the human genome gets one step closer to higher evolution.
I’m not against the idea that humans have and will continue to evolve to tolerate the ills of the modern world, but I wonder what will drive that evolution since the diseases of the modern world (CHD and Diabetes) tend to effect those after reproductive age. Although it does seem that these diseases are effecting children at younger and younger ages so I guess there is hope. (sorry)