If you want to lose a few kilos but no diet convinces you or you are simply lazy, this method may be interesting for you

Losing weight is the desire of most of us, but things get complicated when we get down to it. If we choose an overly restrictive diet, we give up shortly after starting. And if we propose to take care of ourselves every day, in the end we always end up falling into temptation by forbidding ourselves too much food.

For this reason, perhaps the 80/20 rule is the ideal one to lose weight consistently and without putting your health at risk. Its basic premise is moderation, and it consists of eating well and healthy 80% of the time and the other 20% doing it not so healthy.

The 80/20 rule for losing weight

The 80/20 rule is not a diet in the traditional sense and it promises very fast results if done right. Also, as it is not very restrictive, it is more than likely that we will not abandon it after two weeks due to hunger or boredom.

To apply this rule to your diet, you must know which foods are healthy and which are not. To give you an idea:

- Compatible foods suggested for 80%:

  • Whole or plant-based foods (such as fruits and vegetables).
  • Lean animal protein (chicken, turkey).
  • Seafood rich in omega-3s.
  • Whole grains
  • Low-fat dairy.
  • Monounsaturated fats (nuts, seeds, and olive oil).

- Suggested foods for 20%:

  • Foods high in saturated fat (fried chicken, cheese, and bacon).
  • Highly processed foods (ice cream, pizzas, breakfast cereals ...).
  •  
  • White sugar and refined carbohydrates (bread, sweets).

Depending on your caloric needs and the weight you want to lose, you may need to move some of the healthy foods into the 20% category (like dairy), as they are not 100% good for weight loss but they are healthy.

Also, if you want to lose a lot of kilos, the ideal would be that you change the percentage to 90/10, at least a few weeks. That is, 90% of healthy foods and 10% of unhealthy ones.

What you should know before applying the 80/20 rule

If you want the best results, you need to do a little math, Amy Elizabeth Rothberg, director of the Michigan Medicine weight management clinic, assures 'Women's Health'.

"Before you start, you should take stock of your daily and weekly intake, logging calories a couple of days during a typical work week and also on the weekend, particularly with regard to alcohol consumption and high-calorie foods," he explains. Rothberg.

This will give you an idea of how many calories you consume per day and which food groups you eat the most.

From there, you can decide how to make your own division percentage. You can calculate how many specific calories represent 80% of your daily or weekly intake, or count how many meals and snacks account for 80% of the total. All the rest, then, would fall into the remaining 20 percent.

If you or your clients find that a ketogenic meal plan is difficult to follow all of the time, another option is a cyclical ketogenic diet. This involves following a ketogenic approach five days a week as opposed to all seven. On a cyclical Ketogenic diets, the carbs on off days increases to 50 percent. Protein remains around the same at 25 percent and fat drops to 25 percent as well. This enables your body to produce ketone bodies on your diet days but also gives you a couple of days to eat more of the foods you enjoy.

Xoth Keto BHB