Top 10 Tips on What to Do With Your 20% This Winter Season

The 80/20 rule is a popular approach to healthy living - and for good reason. It encourages consistency without perfection. But during the winter season when energy is lower, routines are disrupted, and motivation naturally dips, your 20% becomes a powerful tool rather than a loophole.

Instead of seeing it as “off-plan” time, winter is the season to use your 20% intentionally - to support immunity, mood, recovery, and balance. These tips focus on winter wellness hacks that help you feel good physically and mentally, without adding pressure or guilt.

In winter, your 20% should work with your body, not against it. Think warmth, nourishment, rest, and enjoyment - small choices that make healthy habits feel sustainable even when conditions are tougher.

Cold weather naturally draws us toward comfort foods, and that’s no bad thing. Winter is the perfect time to embrace warming meals like soups, stews, casseroles, and curries - especially when they’re built around vegetables, legumes, lean proteins, and herbs. Use seasonal vegetables wherever possible to maximise your nutrient intake!

Using your 20% for comforting yet nourishing meals with immunity enhancing foods, digestion, and satiety. Slow-cooked dishes are often richer in flavour, meaning you feel satisfied without needing excessive portions. Adding ingredients like garlic, ginger, turmeric, and leafy greens can further enhance their nutritional value and support immunity, while still delivering that cosy winter feeling.

Winter is not the season to push relentlessly. Shorter days and reduced sunlight naturally signal the body to slow down. Using your 20% to prioritise rest - whether that’s an extra hour of sleep, a weekend lie-in, or simply earlier nights - can have a significant impact on energy, mood, and immune resilience.

Rather than seeing rest as “unproductive,” reframe it as part of your wellness strategy. Adequate recovery supports hormone regulation, appetite control, and mental clarity, all of which are essential for staying consistent with healthy habits through winter.

With limited sun exposure during UK winters, and the sun being our primary source of vitamin D, vitamin D deficiency becomes more common. Focus on supplementing strategically and simply to support your health, rather than overwhelming your mind.

Aim for a supplement that provides at least 400 IU/10 μg in the autumn or winter months. Vitamin D supplementation in this time has also been linked to a reduction in Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and a reduction in fatigue, as well as being a vital vitamin in building and keeping bones healthy. 

Movement doesn’t have to be intense to be effective - especially in winter. Swapping some high-intensity workouts for gentler options like walking, Pilates, yoga, or mobility work can help maintain consistency without overwhelming your system, and keep you motivated when the cold spells strike.

Using your 20% for lower-intensity movement supports circulation, joint health, and stress management, while reducing the risk of burnout. In winter, maintaining momentum and consistency can be far more effective than chasing short-term performance goals. Build out habits that will last the rest of the year - not just the season. 

Of course, if your motivation never waivers, stick with your usual routine!

Seasonal changes affect more than just physical energy. Many people notice dips in mood, motivation, or focus during winter. Using part of your 20% to support mental wellbeing can be transformative.

This might look like mindfulness practices, journaling, therapy, coaching, or even light therapy. Investing time and resources into mental health isn’t indulgent - it’s foundational to sustainable winter wellness.

Festive foods, warm desserts, and comfort snacks are part of winter culture. Completely avoiding them often backfires and can lead to a cycle of restricting and bingeing. Instead, your 20% allows space for enjoyment without guilt.

Mindful indulgence - eating slowly, choosing foods you genuinely enjoy, and tuning into fullness - helps maintain a healthy relationship with food. When treats are planned and enjoyed intentionally, they’re far less likely to derail overall progress.

Cold, dark evenings can make social plans feel like effort, but human connection plays a vital role in wellbeing. Try to maintain social habits - whether through cosy dinners, low-key catch-ups, or exercising together. This can support your mental health, reduce feelings of isolation, and help you connect with nature!

Social connection helps us greatly in the winter season - it is a powerful, often overlooked contributor to immune health and emotional resilience.

When temperatures drop, hydration is often one of the first healthy habits to slip. Cold weather blunts thirst cues, and we naturally reach less often for water than we do in summer. However, fluid needs don’t disappear just because it’s cold - in fact, dehydration can quietly contribute to low energy, sluggish digestion, dry skin, and increased hunger during winter months.

Using your 20% to support hydration doesn’t have to mean forcing down cold glasses of water. Instead, focus on warm, comforting fluids that fit naturally into your day. Herbal teas, hot water with lemon, and nourishing broths all count towards fluid intake while also providing warmth and routine, and even nutritional value. These options can feel far more appealing in winter and make staying hydrated feel effortless rather than forced.

Consistent hydration supports digestion, helps regulate appetite, and plays a key role in maintaining energy levels - especially when daylight is limited and fatigue is more common. Small, intentional hydration habits can have an outsized impact on how you feel throughout the colder months, making them a smart and simple use of your winter 20%.

Winter has a way of making even the most organised routines feel harder. Dark evenings, cold weather, and lower energy levels often mean that planning meals, food shopping, and cooking from scratch slip further down the priority list. This is where using your 20% strategically can make a meaningful difference.

Healthy food delivery is about protecting consistency when motivation is low. Having balanced, ready-to-eat meals available removes daily decision fatigue and reduces the likelihood of last-minute choices driven purely by convenience. When nutritious options are already taken care of, you’re far more likely to maintain regular eating patterns, stable energy levels, and adequate protein and fibre intake throughout winter.

Importantly, consistency in nutrition doesn’t require perfection. Even maintaining a solid baseline of balanced meals most of the time supports metabolic health, immunity, and appetite regulation far more effectively than short bursts of “all-or-nothing” effort. With Calo meal delivery you can use your 20% to very easily take care of your 80% entirely, secretly turning your 20% into your 100% instead…

One of the most underrated winter wellness strategies is consciously lowering the bar, without abandoning your values. Winter is not the ideal season for aggressive goals, constant optimisation, or rigid routines. Using your 20% to adjust expectations can actually protect long-term progress.

This might mean aiming for shorter workouts, simpler meals, fewer social commitments, or a more flexible daily schedule. Rather than pushing for transformation, winter is often better suited to maintenance - holding steady, preserving habits, and avoiding burnout. By giving yourself permission to do “enough” instead of “everything,” you reduce stress and increase the likelihood that healthy behaviours remain intact until spring, and then thereafter. 

When expectations align with energy and environment, consistency becomes easier, and winter wellness becomes far more sustainable.

If winter cooking feels overwhelming, Calo’s healthy meal prep delivery in the UK helps you stay nourished with balanced, chef-prepared meals designed to support energy, immunity, and consistency.

Download the Calo app and get started.

In winter, the 80/20 rule helps you stay consistent while allowing flexibility for rest, comfort, and recovery, without guilt or extremes.

Yes. Comfort foods can be highly nutritious when built around whole foods like vegetables, legumes, and quality proteins.

Absolutely. Reduced daylight and colder temperatures naturally affect mood and energy, making adjusted expectations essential.

Simplifying meals, planning ahead, and using healthy food delivery services can significantly improve consistency during colder months.

Knowing what to do with your 20% can completely change how your winter season feels. When used intentionally, that flexibility supports immunity, energy, mental wellbeing and long-term consistency - without pressure or perfection.

For more support, explore How to Stay Energised with Healthy Snacks and Seasonal Spotlight: Simple Habits and Healthy Winter Food to Support Your Immune System This Season. Explore more tips and nutrition guides on the Calo Blog 💚