Of course I was outraged when I saw the cover of last month’s Shape magazine. It had Jack Black in the usual string-bikini-standing-in-water pose. (Kidding! And now you can’t get the image out of your mind. You’re welcome.) Actually it was Angie Harmon in a string bikini standing in the water. And the tagline read “How she got this body (No gym, No trainer).” My first reaction was that singing mice dressed in tiny caps and booties will clean my house before anyone gets abs like that without some serious gym time. But the more I ruminated on it the more I thought perhaps there is a way…
The Pareto Principle
If you went to business school, you learned that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients. In sales, you probably heard that 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers. In economics they say that 80% of the wealth is owned by 20% of the people. At my house, we say 80% of the screaming comes from 20% of the children. Which works out to 0.8 of a child – because, you know, he’s not shrieking all the time. He has to sleep sometime.
Fitness, not wanting to be left out of the Pareto Principle club, also has an 80/20 rule. 80% of weight loss is nutrition, 20% is exercise (I know, I know, it doesn’t quite fit the pattern. Shush, you). From my personal experience I would put it closer to 70/30 but whatevs. The point is that what you eat is more important, at least for weight loss and maintenance, then how you exercise.
All About the Nutrition
Tom Venuto, a nationally reknowned bodybuilder, has said that a person recovering from an injury or illness can maintain and even lose weight just from “clean eating” – no exercise required. Although he adds that this is a short term solution and of course advocates exercise for a variety of health reasons – hard to make any muscle gains just sitting on the couch. Unless “Nintendo thumb” counts, and it totally should right??
There is a lot of advice out there about what, how much and when to eat. There’s the Primal Diet, all iterations of the High Protein/Low Carb diet, the Low-Fat diet, and my personal favorite – Julianne Moore’s Diet. People tweak their macronutrient ratios like they’re two years from retirement and their entire 401K is in tech stocks.
But I like Michael Pollan’s advice the best: Eat less. Mostly plants. Elegant, no? Of course, even he has lots more to say on the subject becase no one would publish a whole book with only four words, much less two books.
An Experiment I Can’t Run
I’m not saying that exercise isn’t good and important and wonderful and has amazing health & soul benefits. It’s all that AND a bag of whole wheat baked pita chips. But perhaps what we eat matters more.
So I want to know what your experience with this is. Do you think Angie got that body just by “playing with her kids” and watching what she eats? Have you ever had to take an exercise hiatus? I’m too chicken to actually do an experiment with this. I need my exercise to stabalize my mood. Trust me on this one.
Help me out dear readers – what do you think? Is the 80/20 rule a good one?
PS> I’m betting Angie has rockstar genes to thank too.
I love Angie Harmon, but was disappointed with her article. Surely Shape could have featured someone who actually has to work for their fitness level. And if what Angie said is true, well they did quite a bit of airbrushing to give her those abs!
As for the 80/20 rule, I definitely think you are right. When I hurt my knee and couldn’t even walk more than a few minutes, I was extra careful to watch what I ate and didn’t gain weight (until Christmas, of course!). When I started working out again, I relaxed on the eating and still maintained the same weight. Had I not relaxed my eating habits, I could have lost some weight, but I also would have been starving.
I once saw a picture of her when she was 7 months pregnant with her first child, and she looked like she was maybe about 4 months. She barely had a bump! I like her too, but I’d like to see fitness magazines feature fewer celebrities and more fitness-minded folks (as opposed to “looks”-minded).
Amen to Azusmom. The whole skinny = fit thing annoys the crap out of me, and magazines like that do lots to keep that myth going.
I agree with the 80/20 rule for looks and weight, and think it can probably be switched around the other way for fitness (weight/looks is 80% food and 20% exercise, fitness is 80% exercise and 20% food).
I personally noticed a big difference in my physical appearance when I switched to eating a mostly paleo diet a few months ago. By eating well, I look more lean & muscular than I’ve ever looked since I started lifting weights about 10 years ago.
say it ain’t so. i have major problems eating healthily. i literally could eat a massive block of cheese at every meal. i wish i could rely on just exercise to get where i need to go, but sadly, i’ve realized that every bite counts. (i’m filled with remorse right now because i just ate three slices of amazing pizza). cutting down on the amount of meat i eat has helped a lot though.
the 8/12 sprints, cutting down on meat, and possibly the cla (which i began right after i wrote that note)have actually helped me lose 2 % points. i’m now 20% body fat! just one more till i’m in the teens.
i know this is a fitness specific blog, but if you have any favorite recipes, it’d be fun to see them sometime. (vegan recipes would be esp appreciated). i personally love this “skinny bitch” recipe that i got from the nyt that uses spaghetti squash, kale, pine nuts, chipotle and raisins.
Diet is huge, especially as you get older. I could definitely eat a lot less “clean” while in college, and maintain or even lose weight, but now, mid-30’s, no dice. 80/20 sounds about right — I now only exercise 4 or so times a week (mostly strength and interval) – I used to be a 5-7 times a week gal (strength and cardio, so my routine has changed quite a bit).
I have recently limited myself to 1 cheat treat per week. Yes, one per week. Not even a bite of chocolate during the week – this is my goal, at least, and so far, so good. And it’s working…well. For me, I have to limit the “treats” and eat basically meat/eggs and fruit/veggies (I follow low/carb/Paleo diet, which is absolutely wonderful and I’m never hungry anymore – except when it’s time to eat!). Caveat: I also have limited my dairy (truly paleo, not necessarily low-carb) and cut caffeine.
Well said! I couldn’t agree more. And I could never give up exercise or I’d be a blimp. I love food and watch it enough as it is. It’s a constant struggle and I exercise a lot. As I age, it gets tougher and tougher to eat what I want and maintain a figure. Sure wish I had those abs!
I was so pumped to see Black Jack at Bikini atoll. Oh come on, every magazine cover nowadays is totally airbrushed.
thejulia – if you’re interested I would highly recommend “Veganomicon” which is a great introductory vegan cookbook with some great clean recipes. You can always add meat to it if you want. Just a thought!
Anonymous, I’ve been pondering whether or not to get that book for a while, and now I think I will. Thanks!!!!
I’d still like to see Jack Black in a bikini.
Great post!
I have to admit that I have experimented with the 80/20 rule and it does not hold true for me. I absolutely need exercise to lose weight or to see any change in my body. It is just a fact of my body chemistry that I have learned to deal with. And weight loss aside, I absolutely need my workouts to keep me sane.
P.S. I am reading Michael Pollan’s book right now and it is really challenging the way I think about food and nutrition. I LOVE it!
Rebecca,
I just finished In Defense of Food and now am reading Omnivore’s Delimmea and I have totally and radically changed my family’s diet. We have gone completely organic and I am making almost everything from scratch and my kids are LOVING it. I am so surprised, but they perfer all the healthy stuff. It has jacked up my grocery budget, but I just have to make sure we eat it!
Since, I have started watching what I eat along with the crazy MBW that I do with Charlotte and Allison, I have lost now a total of 6 pounds and 1% body fat in only 6 weeks.
I am stooked and energized to keep going. I just order 3 new cook books, 2 vegetarian and on asian and I’ll see how those go.
Candice
I have a problem with the SHAPE covers in general. They are WAY over airbrushed! They almost looke cartoon like. Thats why I actually like the Women’s Health covers. They are black and white (which always looks flattering whether you’ve got a good figure or not).
Anyhow about the 80/20 rule….I love to exercise, and i dont do it for weight control, but I know from experience when i take long breaks from exercise, my weight stays about the same, i just feel a bit low on energy and not as perky. I have no problem eating healthfully, but as a culinary student and nutrtional studies background, i find healthy eating fun and enjoyable, which is obviously not the case for most people. But when it comes to eating, that 80/20 rule applies too, as in eat healthy (lean protein, whole grians, produce, good fats, etc) 80% of the time and “fun foods” 20% (empty calorie stuff like a nice gelato or chocolate truffle, hey if i am eating something on the les healthy side, it might as well be the best!).