Jennifer Aniston’s 80/20 approach to wellness is refreshing

Jennifer Aniston says she takes a balanced approach to health and wellness, known as the 80/20 method, to make sure she's not "restricting" herself.

Many people think that living a healthy lifestyle means swapping late nights for treadmill workouts (or Pvolve workouts in Jen's case!) and giving up alcohol, sugary foods, and other indulgences. Yet, the star relies on this balanced approach.

"You've got to live your life. No restrictions - except hard drugs. It’s the 80/20 approach. 80% healthy living and then 20% is: go have a martini, go have your pizza and burgers and stay up late with your friends. There's a balance," she said in an interview with Allure magazine.

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It's an approach that Grace Walsh, our digital health editor here at woman&home, says is 'perfect' no matter where your wellness journey. "Balance is key, as the saying goes, and Jennifer Aniston's approach is perfect," she says. "If you're looking to make changes to your life, the 80% will get you there - but the 20% is just as important. Food and drink are about more than just sustenance. They have a huge connection to our social lives and help us maintain relationships with friends and family, which are just as important as nutrition for enjoying life."

Don't just take Jennifer's word for how effective this balanced approach is, either. There's plenty of research backing it up, Grace explains. "Research shows that the more you restrict yourself, the more likely you are to overindulge and have more than you otherwise would, so it's better to just have what you want in the first place."

When she's focusing on her healthy 80%, Jennifer's routine is about more than just exercise and healthy eating. It's also about having good sleep hygiene and looking after her mental health by welcoming in 'positivity and gratitude' too.

She told Allure, "All you can do is the best you can. I meditate in the morning. I stretch before bed. I've been really trying to work on my sleep hygiene."

But, she admits, while she loves doing full-body Pilates workouts and eating right, it's not always easy for her to stick to other elements of her wellness routine; mostly when it comes to sleep. "Sleep and I have a real hard relationship," she said. "I really want to love it and I am sure it wants to love me, but we have had a hard time, especially the last 10, 15 years. It’s just hard to shut the brain down."

One way she's trying to combat this is by avoiding the news and setting boundaries with tech and screen time to lower her cortisol levels and relax her brain. But she still has bad days. "Some days you're great, and on point, and some days you're just not," she said. "I’m a big believer in trying not to be hard on yourself because the world is so mean right now and so aggressive and negative. So why would we do it to ourselves?"

This seems to have become her mantra, with her saying elsewhere in the interview, "We’ve got to love our bodies. It's doing the best it can. It's been with us since the day we started, so we can't be too hard on it."

Her 80/20 approach is certainly a perfect way to find that balance between pushing your body and also loving it - we're sold.

Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a freelance royal news, entertainment and fashion writer. She began her journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with Good To, BBC Good Food, The Independent, The Big Issue and The Metro.

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