The "80/20 Rule" is a fantastic concept for many different circumstances in life - even exercise & fitness. The concept behind the "80/20 Principle" was supposedly first developed by an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto in the late 1800s. He was describing how 80% of land in only owned by 20% of the people in various "developed" countries around the world.
This principle has since morphed/changed to mean things such as 80% of our results come from 20% of our work - or even that if you're doing awesome 80% of the time, the other 20% may not be so good, but that is okay. There are several ways to apply this rule nowadays.
We love to use the 80/20 Rule to help our trainees and clients keep balance when it comes to nutrition and dieting. This goes along with the concepts of portion control we have discussed several times in our "Ruck Talk" episodes in Instagram.
Here is the secret - eat as clean, as healthy and as organic as you can 80% of the time, and, well, the other 20% of the time...we'll say that has a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. This will HOPEFULLY still allow you a little room to eat some junk every now and then, but also make steady progress with your nutrition over the long-term, instead of being super strict from "GO" and developing an awful relationship with food in a month or two.