Regarding the 20%... page

[TheFastCat]

I see a lot of people acting as though the 20% exists for people to "cheat"/eat grains/sugar/crap 20% of the time. Of course you can but doing so is not Primal. In an interview Mark Sisson sets the record straight. Good question in the interview by Whole9.

[W9]: We wanted to write a post about how folks commonly misunderstand the spirit of the “80/20 rule” that you’ve so effectively popularized. When we poked around on your site, however, we discovered that you’ve already said everything we wanted to! For the record, can you summarize what the 80/20 rule means – and what it doesn’t mean? (We can add links here too.)

[MS]: The simplest translation of the PB 80/20 rule is that you should try the best you can – even strive for perfection – in your life, but not beat yourself up for minor transgressions or falling off the wagon.

http://whole9life.com/2010/12/mark-s...he-grokfather/

[aboutsaffron]

Yeah, it's definitely true that a lot of people use this as an excuse. For me, it's about eating cilantro lime rice in a homemade burrito bowl about once a month, NOT that I can have rice whenever I want. I think this is something that a lot of newbies struggle with. It doesn't mean you can eat as much ice cream as you want, but you can have it once in awhile & you shouldn't feel guilty.

[Daemonized]

And he admits right after that that Cherry Garcia ice cream and Cinnebon are part of his 20% as part of the F*** Off scale.

[Herbwifemama]

I just explored this in my journal. I think it's so that you can make intentional choices about non primal foods that improve the quality of your life- like that thread here recently about the non primal food traditions you're not giving up- and not beating yourself up for it. My most recent example is of snow ice cream- where I live, it's self limiting, because we don't have a ton of snow- and it's a novelty, fun, and definitely a tradition for the first snowfall. That's a choice I intentionally embrace, and don't feel bad for making. Of course, someone else might disagree, and that's the beauty of it- it's incredibly personal, and means everyone does what's right for them.

[ennasirk]

My interpretation of the 20% is that I strive for close to 100% but there are two things that fall into my 20%: 1) things that I consciously, deliberately, and happily make exceptions for and 2) the times when I make the best choices from what's available but limited options might make my choices less than ideal but I'm not going to sweat it. For example - I'm invited to a friend's house for dinner and the only salad dressings available are packaged - no oil & vinegar in the house. So I read labels and pick the lowest carb one and move on. Or I end up with a 5 hour delay when I expected to be home for dinner and the almonds I keep in my backpack just aren't doing it for me, so I find the best food choice I can in the airport.

[periquin]

My feeling about the 20% is that it is an acceptable failure rate, not that it is a programmed goal in the system of the primal blueprint.

If that 20% is designed to be permanent, then the 100% is now only 80%. Now if you allow a 20% failure without grief, you are working on a 60% system. Soon those 20% allowances will take you right out of the program.

The other side of the coin is that if someone wishes only to abstain from bread, pasta, and pastry that is their 100%. They are working on a 'sub primal' blueprint. It is a step toward health. Congratulate them.

[peril]

My feeling about the 20% is that it is an acceptable failure rate, not that it is a programmed goal in the system of the primal blueprint.

If that 20% is designed to be permanent, then the 100% is now only 80%. Now if you allow a 20% failure without grief, you are working on a 60% system. Soon those 20% allowances will take you right out of the program.

The other side of the coin is that if someone wishes only to abstain from bread, pasta, and pastry that is their 100%. They are working on a 'sub primal' blueprint. It is a step toward health. Congratulate them.

+1

[jasonph]

My diet is my diet by choice, and when the positives are worth the negatives, I indulge. There's no real percentage. Just life.

[zoebird]

i agree with periquin.

though, i do prefer it as a "don't sweat the small stuff." but what we are noticing is that our bodies do have a massive reaction to things. like, we had our favorite ice cream for the first time in. . .over a month i would say. . .and we both got massive headaches. when i had toast about a week before that, i felt heavy and yuck all day.

and now, i'm looking at cutting back in a couple of ways, to see if i can get chocolate back to the truly occasional process that it was (eg, once a week, if that), and also just cutting dairy. want to increase the the movement, or rather, reconfigure it to my specific training needs. which is to say more back bends. not exactly in the big five.

[mikebike]

Hate the term "cheat." As if your diet is a spouse you must remain faithful to.

I thankfully don't suffer all the stomach/other problems faced by seemlingly most that post here. There's no direct consequnce for me to consume pretty much any thing, other then long term effects. I just don't think of eating non-primal foods occastionally as some thing that requires self flagellation.