Perfection is not attainable, nobody is perfect nor should we even try to be.
In case you are not familiar with the Pareto Principle it states that 80% of the results you get come from %20 of the work that you do. This is NOT the case with food. %100 of the food you eat creates %100 of the results you get. But that’s just not practical, that’s not real life. So we look for balance to give us the strength and longevity that we deserve.
Finding balance in life is definitely one of life’s great challenges. Work/family balance, romance/friendship balance, spending/saving balance, healthy food/junk food balance… it is all part of the journey. And when we aren’t talking about food I’ll let you decide the balance that is right for you. But when we are talking food I hope to become hard to ignore.
Keeping the 80/20 mindset gives you the edge that let’s you actually enjoy life… 80% of your choices that help you thrive and 20% indulgence. We need that release time. Eating what we want regardless of consequence 20% of the time gives our bodies 80% great nutrition and tons of time to heal and thrive.
This means that 80% of the time we are making choices that are fighting inflammation and disease and it makes that 20% even sweeter. We know it’s a rare occasion and our bodies are strong enough to handle it. The beauty of this is that we also get that 80/20 health span. Life span doesn’t interest me as much as health span. I mean of course I don’t expect to be running marathons at 80 but that’s only because I have yet to run a single marathon. I do however expect to be able to walk my dog and chase after my grandkids (if that happens), climb the stairs… you get it. I wanna live then die. Not live a little then die for a long time because modern medicine knows how to support my shitty habits.
So obviously I borrowed this picture, but when it comes to food balance this is what it looks like. Because FOOD IS FUEL and without fuel this machine just doesn’t run!
I like to get what I want probably as much as the rest of you and if you ask my husband or parents probably more! (I don’t do “NO” well) When I aligned my momentary “wants” with my long term “wants” I found my 80/20 balance. GOOD LUCK!
Plant Based Jenny 