I’ve been in love with this theory called The One Percent Rule and have tried to apply it to just about everything I do. Especially my addiction (or past addiction) to vanilla slices. 🤪
So, I’m sure you are thinking what is The One Percent Rule and should I be using it?
Yes, yes and yes!
So, to explain my One Percent Rule theory, we’ll have to roll back in my life to around 4 years ago. And I must tell you that I’ve got a bit of a confession to make.
I was seriously addicted to Vanilla Slices from the cake shop.
I’d buy one to have with my lunch about four times a week. I’d eat half the slice at lunchtime and then would eat other half for afternoon tea. They had lovely soft gooey custard in the middle and the passion fruit icing on top was super sweet.
The perfect sugary hit to get you through the afternoon. And I loved them.
The Accumulative Effect
So then one day I was thinking….If I have four slices a week (could be more sometimes), that would work out to 16 a month and in the year that was 192 Vanilla Slices.
Oh no..!
And they were $3.00 each, so in a week I worked out that I was (spending $12 on my little addiction).
For the month it was $48, and for the whole year it worked out to be over $500, just on cakes!
Now the cost of the slice in this instance isn’t really the issue, but rather I’m focusing on the amount of cake, not to mention sugar that I was consuming.
So How Much Sugar is acutally in Vanilla Slices?
So after Googling how much sugar might be in the simple vanilla slice I was kind of freaked out. This is what I found after searching online.😲
That’s when I started to think about the accumulative value of things. Food, wine, exercise – or lack thereof, spending money and the list goes on. It works for everything. It’s like when you start saving for Christmas, you know that if you regularly put $20 away a week, you’ll have a nice amount over a $1000 in that year.
So, I’d like to take this one percent theory even further.
One Percent Becomes a lot of Percent’s
When you think of percentages, the number one doesn’t seem like it’s a very big number. But…… that one percent can expand and sometimes it can be for the better. or could possibly go in the opposite direction too and add to your demise……!
It’s OK to have the occasional decadent indulgence.. But not 192 vanilla slices!!!
Ahh, a scary thought.
While we, Greg and I, may get a little side-tracked at times, ha ha, (yes it does happen…). what’s seems to have worked for us to keep moving towards our goal, is probably the one percent rule. A simple and easy mindset to keep you hanging in there.
At times it’s amazed us that we’ve even gone a little further to 5-10-15 or even the 20% percent rule.
Going on our usual walk most days, we realised that we need to up the ante and add around another 500 steps. So today we did. And it didn’t feel like it was a massive thing to do either. Some days we may not always get to do the longer walk but the one percent rule is still being applied.
I also changed to eating more healthier sweet options like Healthy Homemade Peanut Butter Twix Bars and our Vegan Lemon and Berry Cheesecake and one of our absolute faves… Mango Pasion Fruit Chia Puddings.
Just even drinking an extra glass of water a day, say a 250 ml glass, equals 7 extra glasses (1750 mls) in a week, and in one month = 7 litres and in 12 months = 84 litres.
So, if you can picture a table with 84 litres on it….well that’s a big step forward, and I’m not kidding you…that’s a whole lot of water.
This article 22 Easy Ways to Drink More Water Every Day had some really different tips to make it so much more fun.
A Little Stuck in the Mud?
If you are feeling stuck…. Please feel free to join along on our Just One Bite at a Time journey. We all do plateau at times but eventually, percent by percent you’ll smash your wall and get to your target.
Greg and I know we aren’t super stars at what we are doing, but we just wanted to share what has worked for us.
Obviously everyone’s circumstances are different too. We do seem however to always go back to the Just One Bite At A Time theory that Greg said 18 months ago….
“We figured it was better to take small steps rather than setting unrealistic goals we knew we would probably never stay focused long enough to achieve”.
If you have any One Percent ideas to share, we’d love to hear from you and would also like to try them too. Feel free to pop your comments in below the blog. I like the idea that when we help each other, we’ll reach our goals that one percent quicker.
*As always if you’re unsure it’s always a great idea to check in with your GP or health professional.
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