Eat Treats and Be Merry

Janelle and her Valentine's Day haul

Valentine’s Day morning Janelle, my third-grader and resident sugaraholic, skipped onto the bus holding a bag full of valentines for her classmates and a decorated shoebox ready to receive the day’s bounty. Aside from Christmas and Halloween this is her favorite holiday. Who can blame her? Who doesn’t like chocolate? I can walk by bowls overflowing with Jolly Ranchers, Nerds, Fruit Rollups, even candy bars, these don’t entice me. But a box of chocolate confections, well, those will make me pause and most likely, indulge.

Seems I’m not the only one tempted. This week Americans will purchase 58 million pounds of chocolate candy worth $345 million. And that’s just the chocolate. We’ll spend another $103 million on other candy, for a whopping $448 million in total.

Since I author a health blog, I’m sure you’re bracing yourself for the onslaught of discourse about how bad candy is for you, how many empty calories it contains, blah blah blah. I hate to disappoint you, but no, that’s not what’s on my mind this week.

Actually, Valentine’s Day reminds me that there's a place in life for all kinds of food.

The reason that most diets fail is that they’re too restrictive. No one can maintain a lifestyle that forbids an entire food category, especially if it’s one they love.

I can imagine what would happen if I forbade Janelle from ever having chocolate again. She’d cry, tell me how unfair it is, sulk around the house for days and then, probably start sneaking it. She’d eat it at friend’s houses or eat it behind the closed door of the pantry. I’d turn her into a closet eater by labeling chocolate as “bad.” And worst of all, chocolate would be elevated to forbidden status, which only makes it more desirable.

Instead, I believe in the philosophy that all foods are available to me, some, like candy, are simply to be enjoyed occasionally and in moderation.

This is the same position championed by the American Dietetic Association which states,

“… all foods can fit into a healthful eating style. The ADA strives to communicate healthful eating messages to the public that emphasize the total diet, or overall pattern of food eaten, rather than any one food or meal. If consumed in moderation with appropriate portion size and combined with regular physical activity, all foods can fit into a healthful diet…The value of a food should be determined within the context of the total diet because classifying foods as "good" or "bad" may foster unhealthy eating behaviors.”

The trick is moderation and making sure it’s only an occasional thing, not a habit. It goes back to my 80/20 rule—80 percent of the time do the right thing (eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean meats), 20 percent of the time splurge a little. 

Enjoy your treats this week, then get back on track. It’s all part of a healthy lifestyle.

Dianna's 80/20 Rule

I first learned about the 80/20 rule in business school.

Originally developed by Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist, it's also called Pareto's Principle. Vilfredo used it to describe the distribution of wealth in Italy. Specifically, he observed that 20% of the population owned 80% of the wealth. It's actually probably closer to 1% own 80% of the wealth, but that's a discussion for another time.

I'm borrowing the name, 80/20 Rule, for my own purposes because it's familiar and most importantly, it's catchy. I'm all about catchy phrases.

My version of the 80/20 rule has nothing to do with Italy, economics, wealth distribution, or even math. Well, actually there's a little math involved but nothing sophisticated. Pareto, in fact, would probably berate me for completely misrepresenting his theorem. But he's dead, so here I go.

Dianna's 80/20 Rule for Healthy Living:

Make good choices 80% of the time.

That's it. No splashy spreadsheets or statistics required. Just do the right thing, most of the time.

My rule is born out of the knowledge that no one's perfect. And it goes back to an element of the SMART goal methodology that I wrote about a few weeks ago. The "A" in SMART stands for "attainable." As we move forward with our New Year's resolutions, part of maintaining them is making sure they're attainable, or realistic. Part of being realistic is knowing you can't be perfect. So don't try to be. Do the right thing 80% of the time and allow yourself 20% of slack.

Okay, here's where the math comes in.

Applying my 80/20 rule to the days of the week means that I need to make good choices 5.6 days out of 7 (80% of 7 is 5.6). For simplicity let's round that figure up to six. Thus, six days a week I need to do the right thing--eat right, get to the gym, meditate etc. and one day a week I get a free pass.

If you feel like you need a little more structure, you can apply the rule to your total daily calories. For example, if you're following a 2,000-calorie a day plan, make 80% of those calories, or 1,600, smart choices and splurge on the remaining 400. You'll still be maintaining your calorie requirements for the day while also being able to enjoy a little of what you love. (I'm not alone in thinking that little splurges along the way are okay. Weight Watchers' new Points Plus system encourages treating yourself with weekly extras.)


My 80/20 rule is really more of a philosophy than a set of rigid guidelines. It inspires me to live healthy most of the time, but it also gives me some wiggle room for weddings, date night, and the monthly chocolate cravings brought on by PMS.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle isn't about constant deprivation. It's about balance.

That Pareto guy was really on to something and given that he was Italian, I bet he'd agree with my interpretation of his famous principle. Provided of course that we discuss it over a glass of chianti.