80/20 rules
“It’s all about balance.”
Right. Heard that before. But what is that really?
How many sit-ups do I need to do, to balance out a few glasses of wine? If I workout in the morning does that cancel out the pizza I plan on having later? Can I even have pizza, like ever?
My fitness tracker said I burned 300 calories, does that mean I can eat 300 calories now?
How is it that some people can eat whatever they want but still look good?
These questions, among others regarding balance, come up quite often when discussing the do’s and don’ts of health and nutrition. The purpose of this article is to help you navigate through these challenges when understanding balance, and also what that balance might mean for you.
What balance is not…
Sometimes the best way to find an answer is to work backwards through the problem, and because balance can mean many things, it might be easier to establish what it shouldn’t be.
Balance is not a volatile pattern in your routine
One of the most common (and destructive) mistakes we see during the phases of dieting, or attempting to diet, is the process of binge eating followed by a subsequent caloric deprivation or severe restriction. Often times the subsequent restriction is outlined by an elimination of foods that can be both unnecessary and unreasonable, making the restrictive part of the cycle that much more difficult. Which, inevitably, is equivalent to the perfect pitch for a caloric grand slam. Thus, the cycle repeats itself:
The restrictive part of this cycle can come in many forms such as time restricted eating or fasting, the near complete removal of a macronutrient group like carbohydrates (keto), or variations of limited foods. Which, aren’t necessarily or inherently bad options, however the unfortunate downside is not all of the decisions that structure the restrictive part of the cycle come from credible sources and are often formed by the individual’s own bias on what they think is best— or what worked for a friend. This can be detrimental to both your progress as well as your mental and emotional health, especially when you’re trying to navigate through these challenges without the proper guidance.
To make matters worse the constant stress on your body of volatile caloric patterns, along with caloric-dense, not nutrient-dense, foods only exacerbate what can be a constant mental state of disappointment, guilt, self-doubt, body image issues (body dysmorphia) and many other destructive psychological patterns. The more challenging the process becomes both physically and mentally, the less likely you’ll stick to it. The good news is there is a happy medium here, and if you continue reading you’ll find out what that entails.
80/20 is not all-or-nothing
It seems obvious, but it must be said. Yes, there are some people that can pull off a very restrictive diet for long periods of time, but a majority of us just don’t live that way. We like to live a little. We enjoy the birthdays with cake, the achievements with alcohol, or a day off after working all week with some pizza— you name it.
80/20 is not crushing it during the weekdays and having a free-for-all on the weekends, either. Essentially, this would be the same volatile pattern as mentioned above just not as frequent. Why can’t it work this way? Well, it’s not impossible, however you still have to consider your caloric intake and expenditure. If your caloric expenditure on weekends (or days off) drastically decreases while also simultaneously increasing your caloric intake, this can bring your progress to a screeching halt, or worse, even go backwards. It’s not uncommon to have such a high surplus in calories over the course of a weekend that the caloric deficit you worked so hard for during the week, may very well average out to be a surplus instead of a deficit.
You still need to make sure you’re considering energy balance. That is, calories in vs. calories out. And if you’re overdoing it on your days off, it could ruin your progress even if you have several great days in a row.
What balance might look like for you
Start with the easy stuff. These are the simple tasks you know you can control and maintain. That could mean aiming for 7+ hours of sleep each night, drinking enough water each day, and getting at least 30 minutes of exercise or movement in daily.
It may mean setting a personal rule that if you track your food for an entire week, or two weeks, and hit your activity goals, you allow yourself a reasonable treat. Yes, that could mean pizza, just not an entire box. That could mean a glass or two of wine. It could mean many different things, and these are completely fine.
Once you can manage one goal, expand on it. Either add another or figure out how to best improve what you’re doing now.
The trick is, you have to keep in mind if you’re actually staying in the 80/20 zone or if you’re falling more into the 50/50 zone— because that’s where we don’t want to be. The last thing we want is to work hard and not physically see any of the hard work we’ve put in.
Consider it this way: you want to earn your treats. Really earn them. Not just kind-of earn them, or convince yourself you did when you know you didn’t.
Introspectively reflect on what challenges you run into
We all face different challenges when it comes to navigating throughout the day. While there are some broad principles you can implement, like structure, to help navigate through these challenges, there are still very specific things we must do to find solutions. If you’re one of those types to work for hours on end and forget to eat because you’re so busy, perhaps it would be best to set reminders on your phone/calendar to get up and eat. Or instead of relying on take-out each day, take an extra 5-10 minutes the morning of, or night before, to make a lunch.
Maybe you struggle with drinking enough water throughout the day. Perhaps the solution here is to purchase one of those fancy jugs with time indicators on them serving as a reminder that you should drink up to a specific amount by a given time. Or, without being so specific, use small water bottles and every time one is finished, grab another- which might also give you more reason to get up from your desk and get some steps in.
The point is- we have to really understand the small and easy tasks that we must implement to overcome the small obstacles throughout the day. Which, in the end, all add up to making your journey that much more attainable and sustainable.
Avoid free-styling your way throughout the day
We operate better with structure. Chances are, whether it’s a company you own or a company you work for, the operations for that business are structured. There are different positions to fulfill specific roles that are required for efficiency & operations of the business— and the most successful businesses have a defined structure to operate like a well-oiled machine.
Well, you are that machine, and how you structure your day to manage responsibilities, stress, nutrition, training and more all influence just how well that machine (you) operates.
So, plan ahead.
Work on the small stuff, and once mastered, expand on it.
Don’t make volatile changes to your eating habits.
Be patient.
Don’t give up.
And remember…
You are your own greatest investment.
Is Sleep Really That Important for Fat Loss?
One of the most frustrating challenges on your fat loss journey isn’t always knowing what to do. You know what to do— you’re doing it, but still not making the progress you had hoped for. The frustrating part is understanding why.
If you’re reading this and thinking to yourself: Wait, I’m still stuck on the what-to-do (or where to start) part for fat loss— don’t worry, keep reading. This will only help shed more light on the important factors that either contribute to or hinder fat loss. While there may be several different areas that are inhibiting your progress, I want to discuss an area that is often overlooked: Sleep.
Specifically how sleep, or lack thereof, plays a critical role in body composition.
Most of us are aware that improved sleep quality will enhance our energy throughout the day, however with busy schedules, obligations, and responsibilities of daily life, improving sleep is a luxury a lot of us can’t afford. The purpose of this article isn’t to tell you how to better organize your time to sleep more. Rather, it is to help you truly understand reasons why improving your sleep will benefit you along your journey and explore how it directly influences all of the many components contributing to body composition.
There are numerous studies that look closely at the relationship between sleep quality and: body composition, weight loss outcomes, dietary intake, and quality of life.
It’s well documented that improved sleep quality increases physical activity and improves dietary intake. Conversely, poor sleep quality reduces physical activity as well as nutrient intake. This study observed the association between sleep metrics and body composition among 212 men and 218 women, both middle-aged, who were active anywhere between 1.5-6 hours daily (no, this doesn’t necessarily mean lifting weights or doing cardio for this long). The findings indicated that those who: went to sleep before midnight, woke up before 8AM, slept greater than 7 hours, and fell asleep within 12 minutes of lying down all had less body fat percentage and a lower BMI. Conversely, those who fell on the opposite sides of the data all had a higher body fat percentage and a higher BMI. Concluding overall, that improving sleep quality parameters is proven to be an effective tool for improving weight loss programs.
What can you take from this?
Improved sleep quality increases physical activity
Improved sleep quality improves dietary intake (more on this later)
Improved sleep quality is highly correlated to improved biometric markers such as body composition and BMI
The authors did note that more research was needed to understand the complex association between sleep and health measures such as body composition when considering populations who are more physically active and manage their diets.
You might be thinking: Well, as long as I’m still in a caloric deficit, I should still continue to lose fat even if I fall outside of the parameters of the group who had better stats in the study. This is exactly what ran through my head as well, especially as a competitor, because I wasn’t always able to hit that 7+ hour mark of sleep each night. But of course, I was surprised again when I found another study reviewing the Influence of Sleep Restriction on Weight Loss Outcomes Associated with Caloric Restriction.
This is an incredible study that takes into account groups already in a caloric deficit. Thirty-six participants were divided randomly into an 8-week caloric restriction only group, or a caloric restriction and sleep restricted group. The sleep restricted group were deprived of sleep for approximately 1 hour, five nights out of the week in addition to being in a calorie deficit. Results of the study showed very interesting results, in that both groups showed a similar amount of weight, lean mass, and fat mass lost.
However— the calorie restricted group, without disturbances in sleep, had a significantly greater proportion of total mass lost as fat in comparison to the sleep restricted group.
What does this mean?
Despite both groups losing a similar amount of total weight, the group that was also sleep restricted had significantly LESS fat lost
The sleep restricted group had a greater amount of lean mass lost
Other metabolic functions were also measured, including ghrelin and leptin levels, as well as resting metabolic rate, and respiratory quotient RQ. Of these, the measures that stood out the most were the findings on Respiratory Quotient. Respiratory quotient is an indicator of metabolic fuel use in tissues typically ranging from 0.7 to 1.0, where a value of 1.0 is consistent with pure carbohydrate oxidation and a value of 0.7 is consistent with pure fat oxidation.
The good stuff?
The group that was only in a caloric restriction had a decrease in respiratory quotient, which suggests a transition toward greater fat oxidation at rest. Meaning, that if you are in a calorie deficit and do not have poor sleep quality, your body will shift toward greater fat burning mechanisms while at rest!
Improved sleep quality while in a calorie deficit is absolutely more beneficial and produces far greater body composition outcomes than being in a deficit and sleeping poorly.
So far we’ve covered improved sleep quality vs poor sleep quality, and up to this point according to the data, poor sleep quality has consisted of less than 7 hours of sleep. However, is there such a thing as too much sleep? Is it still considered poor sleep quality if average sleep times are greater than 9 hours?
In short, yes. There are negative health associations with very short, short, and very long sleep times such as: weight gain and obesity, performance deficits, diabetes, and poor mental and physical health. Additionally, not only does sleep duration influence positive or negative health outcomes, but the time at which we choose to sleep does too. A 2013 study, Dietary Nutrients Associated with Short and Long Sleep Duration, investigated the relationship between sleep duration, sleep times, and food variety as well as associations with nutrient categories in proteins, carbs, and fats.
It was noted that in several European countries, adolescents who slept for less than eight hours lived a more sedentary lifestyle and demonstrated unhealthy eating habits. In Japan, it was found that those with shorter sleep durations were also associated with unhealthy eating patterns such as a preference for foods higher in fat, missing breakfast, snacking, and eating outside of home-cooked meals. Interestingly, those who slept later into the day not only had less hours of sleep than those who slept at traditional times, but consumed significantly more calories after 8PM along with fewer servings of veggies. Perhaps the least shocking was the finding that later bed and rise times were also associated with an increased consumption of fast-food and caffeinated drinks and reduced consumption of dairy products.
As far as the differences in diet among the very short (<5 hours), short (5-6 hours), normal (7-8 hours), and very long (9+ hours) sleep groups— the lowest energy intake was found in both the short and long sleep groups. The greatest food variety was found in the normal (7-8h) group, with the least food variety found in both the very short (<5 h) and very long (9+ h) sleepers.
To further illustrate the point, This study indicated that those with insufficient hours of sleep were associated with irregular meal times and eating, excessive snacking habits and seasoning of food, and an inadequate amount of vegetables; ultimately engaging in habits that are more likely to cause lifestyle related diseases.
Key points:
7-8 hours is the most ideal amount of sleep for both performance as well as eating habits
Sleeping at traditional times (not too late to bed, not too late to rise) also increases likelihood of healthier food choices
Healthier eating habits support quality sleep
There are literally hundreds of studies investigating health outcomes in relation to sleep duration and sleep quality, with all signs pointing to better quality sleep:
Increases energy— which would increase productivity / activity
Improves food quality choices, timing, and appropriate caloric intake
Lowers likelihood of developing lifestyle related diseases
Increases quality of life
Another benefit that’s also prevalent is that the relationship doesn’t only work in one direction. We don’t need to improve sleep first in order to have a positive influence on food choices, or increase productivity— the opposite is also true. Improving activity in addition to healthier food choices also increases and supports quality sleep, which overall improves our quality of life. The takeaway is just that it can work that way, and sometimes this may be an easier place to start for some people.
You snooze, you lose.
References:
Capers PL, Fobian AD, Kaiser KA, Borah R, Allison DB. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of the impact of sleep duration on adiposity and components of energy balance. Obes Rev. 2015;16(9):771–782. doi:10.1111/obr.12296
Grandner, M. A., Jackson, N., Gerstner, J. R., & Knutson, K. L. (2013). Dietary nutrients associated with short and long sleep duration. Data from a nationally representative sample. Appetite, 64, 71–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2013.01.004
Imaki M, Hatanaka Y, Ogawa Y, Yoshida Y, Tanada S. An epidemiological study on relationship between the hours of sleep and life style factors in Japanese factory workers. J Physiol Anthropol Appl Human Sci. 2002;21(2):115–120. doi:10.2114/jpa.21.115
Poggiogalle, E., Lubrano, C., Gnessi, L. et al. Reduced sleep duration affects body composition, dietary intake and quality of life in obese subjects. Eat Weight Disord 21, 501–505 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-016-0254-z
Youngstedt, S. D., & Kline, C. E. (2006). Epidemiology of exercise and sleep. Sleep and biological rhythms, 4(3), 215–221. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1479-8425.2006.00235.x
Xuewen Wang, Joshua R Sparks, Kimberly P Bowyer, Shawn D Youngstedt, Influence of sleep restriction on weight loss outcomes associated with caloric restriction, Sleep, Volume 41, Issue 5, May 2018, zsy027, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsy027
