The 80/20 Approach To Wellness—Because Nobody Likes Extremes

I used to treat wellness like a performance. Green juice, digital detoxes, lymphatic drainage massages, stacked back-to-back like it was my job (and in some ways, it kind of is). But somewhere between the magnesium and the breathwork and the panic when I skipped a journal entry, I realised: I was no longer doing wellness. I was doing control.

So I burned it all down and built something new: the 80/20.

Not in the clean-girl sense. Not in the cheat-day diet sense. In the real, keep-your-nervous-system-intact sense.

What Is The 80/20 Approach?

Eighty percent of the time, I do the things that support me:
The water, the vitamins, the structure, the routines.
The other 20? That’s for life. For fun. For mess. For not spiralling if I skip a day or a step or a week. It’s structure with softness. Discipline with detachment.

And it works—not because it’s perfect, but because it’s sustainable.

What This Actually Looks Like

Food

80%: Ghar ka khana, protein-first plates, hydration like it’s a sport.
20%: Cold Coke at 4 p.m. Fries with aioli. The third dessert no one needed but everyone wanted.
I don’t undo it. I just move on.

Sleep

80%: Magnesium glycinate, eye mask, oil on the soles of my feet.
20%: Phone-to-face scrolling till 2am and waking up with regrets (but glowing skin, because I remembered to layer a sleeping mask).

Skin and Body

80%: SPF, dry brushing, weekly exfoliation, body oil after every shower.
20%: Forgetting serum for days. Sleeping in sunscreen. Using the fancy body cream just for the scent and skipping everything else.
Skincare isn’t my religion. It’s my ritual. I can leave and come back.

Movement

80%: Morning walks, slow strength, stretching because I’m not 19 anymore.
20%: Cancelled workouts. Replacing breathwork with scrolling.
Some days, stillness is the workout.

Mindset

80%: I check in. I course-correct. I hydrate before caffeine.
20%: I spiral. I skip things. I emotionally online shop and call it therapy.
I don’t always regulate. But I always return.

What I’ve Learned

The 80/20 isn’t a method. It’s an energy.

It’s knowing when your body needs spirulina—and when it needs biryani. It’s doing things that make you feel good, but not because someone told you to.
It’s understanding that if your wellness routine falls apart the second you miss one step, it was never well to begin with.

There’s no reward for maxing out your rituals. You don’t get a gold star for meditating through burnout. You don’t earn extra points for suffering in silence while sipping ashwagandha.

So Here’s My Version Of Wellness

I oil my scalp with rosemary... and also eat ramen straight from the pot. I take my vitamins five days a week... and forget them on the sixth without spiralling. I do the face mask. I forget the affirmations. I do enough.

That’s the point: wellness that works with your life, not against it.

80/20 isn’t balance for balance’s sake. It’s how I stay soft in a system that rewards extremes.

And no—I’m not waking up at 5am. But I am okay. And honestly? That’s enough.