What does 80-20 look like?

For many people, shooting for an 80-20 split of “healthy” vs “unhealthy” meals allows them to have some flexibility while still meeting their goals. But what does 80-20 look like?

80-20 vs 90-10

80-20 and 90-10 are common ways some people define how strict their diets are. These numbers refer to the percentage of meals that are “good” vs “bad” or “healthy” vs “unhealthy”.

However, many people who throw those numbers around don’t actually quantify their meals. They say “I eat about 80% healthy” but when you ask them to look at their day-to-day diet they realise it’s more like 70-30 or 60-40.

Allowing for a percentage of “unhealthy” meals is up to you. You don’t need to do it, but it gives you a clear, objective target and accountability measures.

A 90-10 split is likely to give you better results. An 80-20 split is likely to be more attainable, especially if your dietary habits are currently not very good.

Please note that if you have issues with disordered eating or eating disorders, this is not a good approach for you. Please feel free to reach out if you have or think might have issues with this.

What does 80-20 look like?

It all depends on how many meals you eat per day. For example, if you eat 5 meals per day (breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner), you eat 35 meals in a week. 20% of those meals would be 7, meaning 7 of the meals you eat during the week can be “unhealthy”.

A few notes on how to implement 80-20 type protocols:

If you eat main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and mid-meals (morning tea, afternoon tea), I recommend choosing mid-meals as your “unhealthy” meals as they will typically represent a smaller percentage of your overall energy intake
Try to space out your “unhealthy” meals throughout the week to give your body a chance to cope better
If you have a very busy social life, often eat meals out for work or are travelling, make those your “unhealthy” meal occasions
Pay attention to meal size. If your “unhealthy” meal represents 50%+ of your total energy intake for the day, chances are you will not meet your goals any time soon.
What qualifies as “unhealthy” is subjective. For some people, it can mean discretionary choices or ultra-processed foods.

The images below illustrate how 80-20 and 90-10 would look for a 2, 3 and 5 meal per day diet. The salad represents “healthy” meals and the burger emoji represents “unhealthy” meals.