It Don't have to be All or Nuthin... the 80/20 Rule

My Kryptonite - Costco Chocolates
If you shop at Costco, you've likely seen these bags of chocolates... little tiny rectangles of pure goodness, particularly the dark chocolates! They are sooo good... and highly addictive. They're so small. It's easy for me to go... "I'll just have one..." and then one turns into two, turns into four, turns into eight... etc.

Costco's Swiss chocoaltes

Our massage therapist has a little tub of these at the reception desk. In the past, I'd arrive early for my appointment and help myself to two or three... and then after my appointment, I'd sneak a handful (five or six)... and my massage therapist would usually go... "Oh, take a few more!"... and I'd take another two or three... I'd drive home and have "just one"... but usually, by the time I got home... they'd all be gone!

On top of that... last year, I started managing our basement suite as an AirBnB. We thought it'd be a nice touch to offer little chocolates for our guests... one on each stack of towels. So I went to Costco and bought a bag of the milk chocolate variety. I kept them in my office closet at home... This past August, for whatever reason, I began to pilfer our stash. Just one... which turned into a dozen... every day. No wonder my cholesterol was through the roof in September! This is why it's not a good idea for me to have in-house access to chocolate!

But... things have changed... during our little 8 week sugar detox, I repeatedly had to refuse my massage therapist's generous offer of "take a few". And now... I might have one or two... but not a dozen. I try to follow the 80/20 rule...

Pareto Principle

Vilfredo Federico Pareto

Meet Vilfredo Federico Pareto (1848-1923). This Italian cutie wasn't just a pretty face... he was a pretty smart cookie: engineer, sociologist, economist, political scientist, and philosopher. He came up with what's now known as the Pareto Principle - also known as the 80/20 rule.

Pareto figured out that 80% of Italians owned 20% of the land... and conversely... 20% of Italians owned 80% of the land. He got a bit obsessed and began to see that ratio everywhere... He realised that 20% of the pea plants in his garden produced 80% of the peas... And it wasn't just him... soon everyone started seeing the 80/20 rule in action...

• 80% of the world's wealth is owned by 20% of the world's population
• 80% of software problems are caused by 20% of software bugs
• 20% of criminals cause 80% of crimes
• 80% of customers used 20% of a software's features 
• 20% of drivers cause 80% of accidents
• 20% of employees are responsible for 80% of the results
• 80% of our clothes are worn 20% of the time
• 20% of our house gets used 80% of the time

And on it goes...  Basically... 80 percent of results are from 20 percent of causes.

Now... the 80/20 numbers aren't cast in stone... there is some flex and give there... sometimes it's 85/15... sometimes it's even 70/30 or 90/10... but the general idea holds.

80/20 Rule in Health
You'll also come across references to the 80/20 rule in health...

One version runs something like this: eat well 80% of the time and don't freak out if you fall off the wagon 20% of the time. There is more flexibility in this because... honestly... trying to be perfect 100% of the time is impossible. Soooo... a double chocolate fudge brownie on Saturday morning is NOT the end of the world. If it happens every day... then... there's a problem brewing.

Another version of the 80/20 rule runs like this: if you're trying to lose weight, 80% of your results will come from altering what you eat... only 20% comes from exercise. I totally get that. Fifteen years ago, when I lived in PG, a friend and I would go walking for an hour, twice a day, every weekday. We'd also go for long hikes on the weekends. She was pushing 260 lbs and was desperate to lose weight. Over the next year or so, she lost about 20 lbs but then stagnated. Why? Cause she was still indulging in Cheezies and junk food at home. If we're really committed to shedding the pounds... then 80% of our results are going to come from what we're eating. Simple as that.

To be fair, I'm not sure these are true examples of the Pareto Principle... I'm still trying to figure that out but... it's statistics after all, which makes my head hurt. But the 80/20 Rule is still a good rule of thumb to get started.

The idea of going 100% meat free might be a bit daunting... but maybe Meatless Mondays is more doable. And then Meatless Fridays... My nutritionist suggested that as we transition to a meat-free diet... we could go meat-free on weekdays and indulge on the weekends.

80/20 - a bit of indulgence

Or maybe it's following the Canada Food Guide and having meat only comprise 25% of the dinner plate (75/25 rule) instead of 50% of the dinner plate.

Or maybe it's indulging in a treat (or two) on the weekend and skipping them on weekdays. We had a little two week spate of the 80/20 rule back in late February. The Keg (carnivore paradise) is closing in our city and we had a $150 gift card to use up. Let's be clear... The Keg might have salads... but one does not go to The Keg for a salad. No... we went for the fresh sourdough bread... and the bacon-wrapped scallops... and the baked brie. Three times we went... and then the gift card was done. We won't be getting any more of those... sigh.

Sourdough bread at The Keg

A few weekends a go... we had dropped the ball on meal prep and caved in and ordered a pizza. In the past, we would have ordered the Hangover Pizza (pepperoni, ground ham, bacon, tomatoes,
mozzarella & tomato sauce). But... we made a conscious choice and ordered one with tomatoes, spinach, feta, pine nuts, pesto and onions. A little bit of feta and pesto wasn't the end of the world... At least not yet.

Mind you, there are some times when the 80/20 Rule does NOT work. For me... I know that it doesn't work with hot chocolate. I needed to go cold turkey on that one and stay off of it.

Overall, I'd say that we are OK with four steps forward and one step backwards... Some weeks we might take no steps backwards... and some weeks it might be two steps backwards. Overall... we are just trying to put one Small Step after the other...