Does the 80/20 Diet Actually Help You Lose Weight

The 80/20 diet plan is designed for dieters to still enjoy some of their favorite, less healthy foods in moderation.
Dieting is tricky business. Anyone who’s ever tried to shed pounds knows how difficult it is to give up favorite foods and stick to a diet.
The 80/20 Diet is a new eating plan that gives you permission to indulge in your favorite foods as long as you eat really healthy the rest of the time.

What is the 80/20 diet?
In “The 80/20 Diet,” Australian nutritionist, chef, and personal trainer Teresa Cutter writes that you can lose weight if you eat nutritiously 80 percent of the time and allow yourself to indulge in less healthy food for the remaining 20 percent of your meals.
By nutritious, Cutter means whole, unprocessed or minimally processed foods, lots of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains, plus lots of water.
Keep in mind, however, that Cutter’s definition of less healthy foods might not square with yours.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week equals 21 meals, so 80 percent would be 17 healthy meals.
That leaves four indulgent opportunities, but Cutter admits that if you gorge on pizza, fries, and cheeseburgers for those four meals, you’ve just undone all the good work of the 80 percent.

You can have that cheeseburger, she said, just don’t get a Whopper and double fries.
Does it work?
Well-balanced menus built around fruit, vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains will help you feel full, and due to the fiber and water content, keep your system working. However, since weight loss is all about burning more calories than you consume, you still have to practice portion control.
Another positive aspect of the 80/20 diet is that it removes the angst we often feel when we indulge in nondiet food like cupcakes, cookies, ice cream, and the like.

The downside
Time and money can be a negative factor in following the 80/20 diet. Since fresh food and good cuts of lean protein can be more expensive than boxed, frozen, canned, and fast food options, you may have to stretch your budget a bit.
You’ll also have to be organized and able to commit time to meal prep.
“If 20 percent turns into 40 percent and the healthy items only fall into 60 percent range, then you run into problems,” she told Healthline.

Takeaway
Diets that promise quick and painless weight loss might work initially, but they seldom hold steady in the long run. What does work are making lifestyle changes and readjusting your thinking about food.
The 80/20 Diet approaches both the physical and mental aspects of weight loss, and might be a sensible, sustainable method to lose weight and stay healthy. Consider talking to a registered dietitian or healthcare professional before making a major change in your diet.