The Primal Blueprint (3 page)

Striving For Perfection With the 80% Rule

I believe that if you are aligned with the
Primal Blueprint
80% of the time, you will experience great success and likely build momentum toward being even more compliant, with less effort, as time proceeds. Since this admonition is potentially controversial (“Sisson offers a cop out!”), I’d like to further explain the spirit of the rule. Hopefully, you will feel comfortable with my approach, and - more importantly – with yours!

The 80% Rule is not a license to make less than a full commitment to the
Primal Blueprint
– that is, to strive for a “B” grade as your ultimate goal. As my kids have heard me say from time to time on the topic of schoolwork, “If you make a half-assed effort half the time, you’ll get a quarter of results…and it will be twice as hard!” This is particularly true in the important example of moderating your intake of processed carbs and getting off the sugar high-sugar crash cycle that we will cover in great detail shortly. Even a couple of steps out onto a slippery slope aren’t so easy to recover from!

Throughout the book, you will notice a fairly aggressive tone when I assert the risks that following Conventional Wisdom can pose to your health, and the urgency with which you must change your mentality and behavior to protect and nurture your health, fitness and overall well being by following the
Primal Blueprint
. What I suggest is that you strive for 100% success - total compliance for the
Primal Blueprint
guidelines and zero tolerance for the unhealthy foods, exercise and lifestyle habits that are prevalent today. With that in mind, please realize a couple of things:

• Many of the benefits of a strict and disciplined “healthy” lifestyle can be compromised by a perfectionist mentality.

• The forces of hectic daily life (cultural traditions, convenience and fast pace) will divert you from your ideal often, and that this is perfectly okay (just make smart adjustments!). Strive for 100% with the understanding that your efforts will probably get you to 80%.

I’m a big believer in enjoying life, and indeed this has been my overpowering inspiration for developing the
Primal Blueprint
. Remember that the program presented here was inspired in part by assorted dead ends and disappointments, such as my aforementioned experience with physically unhealthy endurance training and competition. My desire to enjoy more regulated energy levels, and eliminate symptoms of digestive distress and sub-par immune function was a driving force in my discovery and implementation of Primal-style eating. If the
Primal Blueprint
urged that you eat bugs and mud ten times a day, it might be emotionally and psychologically harmful, and therefore a bad idea – even if it were technically deemed “healthy” to your physical body.

The 80% Rule exists because I understand how difficult lifestyle change can be. I want you to make an honest and devoted effort, but I never want you to feel discouraged that you aren’t measuring up to arbitrary standards created in your mind or by society. In the Conclusion, I discuss at length how process-oriented goals that emphasize effort and enjoyment of the experience are far healthier than the more common mentality of obsessing about results. Consider the familiar example of failed weight loss efforts triggering self-destructive eating habits. If millions of dieters altered their goals from losing weight at any cost (struggling, suffering, engaging in deprivation, restriction, and obsessive/compulsive calorie counting) to simply enjoying meals more by choosing healthy, great-tasting
Primal Blueprint
foods, and not stressing about portion sizes, regimented meal guidelines, or what the scale says every day, success rates would skyrocket. I think legendary basketball coach John Wooden captured the spirit of the 80% Rule well with this quote: “Perfection is impossible. However,
striving
for perfection is not. Do the best you can under the conditions that exist. That is what counts.”

“
Perfection is impossible. However
,
striving
for perfection is not. Do the best you can under the conditions that exist. That is what counts.”
”

—
John Wooden

Conventional Wisdom vs. The Primal Blueprint

In the
Primal Blueprint
(PB), we will challenge and reframe these major elements of Conventional Wisdom (CW). Consider these alternatives with an open mind; we will discuss each in detail throughout the text.