Fad diets are just about everywhere. Books, television, social media, you name it, these diets are being advertised as though they’re going out of fashion – which slowly but surely, they are. Now, eating intuitively is becoming a far more popular trend for those trying to earn themselves a healthy lifestyle. More specifically, the 80:20 rule. This way of eating is taking the world by storm after numerous influential icons, celebrities and health and fitness bloggers have praised it to the high heavens. the-80-20-rule WHAT IS IT? The 80:20 rule is considered more of an approach to healthy eating, rather than a ‘diet’. To put it simply, the idea is that you eat wholesome, nutritious foods 80% of the time,  therefore allowing yourself to indulge in your favourite treats (in moderation, of course!) for the remaining 20% of the time. WHY ARE PEOPLE DOING IT? Let’s be honest, fad diets aren’t helping anyone. They allow you to lose a fair amount of weight relatively quickly, but alas, the weight soon returns. Think about it this way. If you cut out sugary foods all together, not only are you going to struggle horrendously as you fight the persisting cravings, but when that celebratory Birthday cake or ice-cream on holiday passes your lips, your body will basically say “what the hell is this? I don’t like it, I’m going to protest, cause you pain, make you feel slightly ill and chuck on a few pounds while I’m at it”. Not ideal, in other words. HOW CAN I DO IT? So you eat well all week and you’ve worked your butt off at the gym, you want to reward yourself a bit, right? Good news. With the 80:20 rule, you can. For example, you get to Sunday and you look back on just how well you’ve done for the previous six days. Tonight’s the night you get to enjoy your favourite pizza and glass of wine – guilt free. Why? Because you earned it! The key here is that you get right back on track the following morning. Go to your favourite gym class, make yourself a healthy breakfast, and drink two to three litres of water throughout the day. Et voila. Zero guilt, a satisfied tummy and a fresh outlook on what will be yet another successful week! WHY IT MIGHT NOT BE FOR EVERYONE Ok, so not everyone will have the required willpower to be able to spring back from the treat meal the night before, or perhaps you’re 100% dedicated to your goals and simply don’t want to let 20% worth of what you consider to be metaphorical bollards getting in the way of your weight loss journey. That’s fine! The beauty of the 80:20 rule it that it can be customised to suit you. Not about that 80:20 life? Try 90:10, or if you’re mega dedicated, 95:5. See what we’re saying? YOU make the choices to get what YOU want out of it in the long run. With the likes of Mirander Kerr, Jessica Alba and Joe Wicks (aka The Body Coach) living by the 80:20 mantra, it would appear that this intuitive eating method is replacing more and more of those dreaded fad diets every single day. The beauty of nutrition is that it is completely trial and error. If it doesn’t work for you, there will be something that does. Research it, try it and most importantly, enjoy it!