80:20 tactic to avoid the bathwater taking the baby
Written on February 3, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Give up chocolate altogether? What's worth that price?
Living life by the 80:20 rule
As a doctor it is my professional duty to spruik healthy living. Lucky me. Cruciferous vegetables prevent cancer so extra broccoli is on the menu. Fish oils prevent heart disease and depression so open an extra tin of tuna. Whole grains are low GI and help keep diabetes and heart disease at bay. So make that toast a dense grainy one, OK? Excellent!
I get to warn you off chocolate, ban you from that third glass of wine and tell you that hot chips are a NEVER food. I get to tell you that not eating breakfast is a train smash, that you’re not exercising enough, your spare tyre is killing you and your mum’s early stroke puts you at high risk of cardiovascular disease yourself.
I don’t kid myself that the advice I give is arduously incorporated into the daily lifestyle verbatim. At absolute best, my patients pick out the doable things and give the less palatable (like ‘no binge drinking on the weekend) bits of advice no more than a cursory glance. At worst they think that my lecture was not what the doctor ordered and regard me as some sort of Puritan health psychopath.
One of the problems with the hard core Low GI, 30-minutes-of-exercise-a-day-7-days-a-week, stop-at-2-drinks messages is that lots of people throw the whole thing in the too hard basket. It’s the all-or-nothing attitude that we have that is the problem.
So, in recognition of the real people with real loves, and real vices, and the best of intention, CAN WE GO FOR THE 80:20 RULE?
Why not try being good and compliant with all those boring health instructions MOST of the time and letting yourself go for the stuff that ain’t helping your heart, mind or soul 20% of the time? This is not based on any study- as the 80:20 rule hasn’t been put under the scientific microscope. But I reckon that living as healthily as you can while being realistic is a BIG step in the right direction.
