Making decisions a bit easier
SideSteel
Posts: 11,068 Member
I’ve noticed something with myself and with clients that seems pretty straightforward but I thought I’d make mention of it here as this is something that can go overlooked, even though most of you will be nodding as you read this as if it’s nothing new and insightful.
When I have an excess of junk food in my home, especially in my immediate environment, my calorie consumption goes up.
When I have pre-made foods that are less calorie dense and/or highly satiating, such as grilled chicken, steamed vegetables, boiled potatoes, fresh or frozen fruit, my calorie intake goes down.
This all sounds pretty reasonable, right? I mean, if you’re surrounded by Halloween candy and cakes and brownies you’re much more likely to eat them. Conversely, if you’ve got some lower calorie, filling options readily available and they are convenient, you’re probably going to reach for those options especially if the alternative is to get in your car and drive to Five Guys to get your burger on.
Recognizing this (and doing something about it) is huge. It’s HUGE.
The nice part is, most of you can control your food environment to at least SOME degree.
Here are some things I find very important for most people:
1) Grocery shop on a regular basis. Twice per week is usually about right for most people but the bottom line is this – the first step to providing yourself with a food environment conducive to success is to make sure you have the available foods to do so. If you fail at this step, you are potentially making it harder to make good food choices.
2) To the best of your ability, make sure that hyper palatable, energy-dense food items (things we typically refer to as junk food) are less convenient and less visible in your environment. Don’t leave the chips out on the counter. Stick them in a cupboard that you don’t frequent often, or for some people it may be better to leave them at the grocery store.
3) To the best of your ability, make sure that satiating, lower-calorie food items are more convenient and more visible in your environment. For example, keep a fruit bowl on the counter that you can see when you walk into the kitchen.
4) Dedicate an hour twice per week for food prep. Prepare foods in bulk and portion them out so that you have foods that meet your calorie needs (diet friendly for lack of a better term) at the ready.
This is far from a complete list as there are plenty of other tactics you can use, but I find the above to be substantially important, and these are things that have a big payoff for minimal up-front work.
Often times your choices are heavily influenced by your surroundings. Take advantage of this and you might find yourself having a slightly easier time making decisions that align with your goals.
When I have an excess of junk food in my home, especially in my immediate environment, my calorie consumption goes up.
When I have pre-made foods that are less calorie dense and/or highly satiating, such as grilled chicken, steamed vegetables, boiled potatoes, fresh or frozen fruit, my calorie intake goes down.
This all sounds pretty reasonable, right? I mean, if you’re surrounded by Halloween candy and cakes and brownies you’re much more likely to eat them. Conversely, if you’ve got some lower calorie, filling options readily available and they are convenient, you’re probably going to reach for those options especially if the alternative is to get in your car and drive to Five Guys to get your burger on.
Recognizing this (and doing something about it) is huge. It’s HUGE.
The nice part is, most of you can control your food environment to at least SOME degree.
Here are some things I find very important for most people:
1) Grocery shop on a regular basis. Twice per week is usually about right for most people but the bottom line is this – the first step to providing yourself with a food environment conducive to success is to make sure you have the available foods to do so. If you fail at this step, you are potentially making it harder to make good food choices.
2) To the best of your ability, make sure that hyper palatable, energy-dense food items (things we typically refer to as junk food) are less convenient and less visible in your environment. Don’t leave the chips out on the counter. Stick them in a cupboard that you don’t frequent often, or for some people it may be better to leave them at the grocery store.
3) To the best of your ability, make sure that satiating, lower-calorie food items are more convenient and more visible in your environment. For example, keep a fruit bowl on the counter that you can see when you walk into the kitchen.
4) Dedicate an hour twice per week for food prep. Prepare foods in bulk and portion them out so that you have foods that meet your calorie needs (diet friendly for lack of a better term) at the ready.
This is far from a complete list as there are plenty of other tactics you can use, but I find the above to be substantially important, and these are things that have a big payoff for minimal up-front work.
Often times your choices are heavily influenced by your surroundings. Take advantage of this and you might find yourself having a slightly easier time making decisions that align with your goals.
3
Replies
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Thank you for this! :-) it makes great sense. Batch cooking definitely has made my food choices easier to manage0
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Bumping b/c this is too good to have it roll off to Page 2...0
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I really need to move the bag of Halloween candy out of my desk at work...0
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Yes--it's true that this seems a "no-brainer", but successful dieting needs organization and pre-planning. I also find it usefull when I've got a cake, or other sweets around to portion them in smaller packages, and if I can, freeze some. It's easier to deal with a smaller piece of high calorie food.0
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snowflake954 wrote: »Yes--it's true that this seems a "no-brainer", but successful dieting needs organization and pre-planning. I also find it usefull when I've got a cake, or other sweets around to portion them in smaller packages, and if I can, freeze some. It's easier to deal with a smaller piece of high calorie food.
Yup, good ideas.0 -
Great list, thank you. Although I do my main grocery shop online once a month I go to the supermarket at least once a week for fruit and veg, and I find I make much better food choices if I eat before I go (I've been known to go in for cabbage and come out with cream cakes, just because I was hungry!)
I find number 4 the most helpful for me. My freezer at the moment contains home-cooked and portioned lasagne, lamb casserole, soups and vegetables. I can have a good meal ready within minutes, and know exactly what it contains.0 -
I'm glad this got bumped because I didn't see it before.
Another suggestion for the hyper-palatable, energy-dense food items; just don't bring them into the house, period. For some people, just knowing the food is there will sit in the back of their mind and test their willpower all day, and there's no reason to put yourself under that stress when you're trying to make other changes to your diet as well like reducing calorie intake. Sometimes small steps like getting the calorie intake down first, then working on portion sizes or frequency of certain foods if that's something your struggle with can be helpful. I've seen quite a few people on this site who will eat the same meals for a few weeks to get the whole calorie intake down, then start branching out with food varieties once they get comfortable enough with the process to change things up.
The other benefit to this tactic is that you give yourself a buffer if you tend to go overboard with a certain food (you have to go out to get it), giving you a chance to think about your decision and whether that's what you really want. It can also help you moderate your intake of a certain food by pre-planning your treats into your schedule, and only buying a single portion on that day to enjoy, or only enjoying it somewhere outside of the house.0 -
I agree 100%, Side Steel. Nothing worse than opening the fridge door and staring at a whole lot of nothing you want to eat. Having a stockpile of high-protein stuff (hard-boiled eggs, grilled chicken breast, etc.) has helped me hugely. I'm never without a quick lunch. When I don't have them, I make choices I wish I hadn't made.0
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Thanks SS!0
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I wish I could just dump all the bad stuff. But I have a DD who is 3 and she eats that stuff (and has the metabolism for it!) Not always, mind you, but she does get a small treat after a healthy meal. She eats the very lean, healthy meals that I eat, and her dessert is usually a piece or two of fun-size candy , or a cookie. I also have a DH who acts like a starving man if there isn't junk readily available (he is super skinny even though he eats like crap-so jealous!)
If ll I had in the house was healthy foods, I would never cheat!0 -
This is what I do
Reduces the amount of struggling so much!
I plan my meals, shop only when full and rested, cook from scratch, eat only food I like, don't cut out anything, but keep just the bare minimum of hyperpalatable/junky foods at home.0 -
Bumping, because this is a fantastic post~0
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I'm glad this got bumped because I didn't see it before.
Another suggestion for the hyper-palatable, energy-dense food items; just don't bring them into the house, period. For some people, just knowing the food is there will sit in the back of their mind and test their willpower all day, and there's no reason to put yourself under that stress when you're trying to make other changes to your diet as well like reducing calorie intake. Sometimes small steps like getting the calorie intake down first, then working on portion sizes or frequency of certain foods if that's something your struggle with can be helpful. I've seen quite a few people on this site who will eat the same meals for a few weeks to get the whole calorie intake down, then start branching out with food varieties once they get comfortable enough with the process to change things up.
The other benefit to this tactic is that you give yourself a buffer if you tend to go overboard with a certain food (you have to go out to get it), giving you a chance to think about your decision and whether that's what you really want. It can also help you moderate your intake of a certain food by pre-planning your treats into your schedule, and only buying a single portion on that day to enjoy, or only enjoying it somewhere outside of the house.
^ Good stuff ^0 -
It's the other way around for me... If I have junk available in my house, I'm much better with moderation, otherwise I end up buying a pint of ice cream or a bag of chocolate and binging on it...1
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Temptations never bother me. Im over it.
Very good advise for those who are looking for answers on planning and fall into temptation.
Bump!0 -
sunandmoons wrote: »Temptations never bother me. Im over it.
Very good advise for those who are looking for answers on planning and fall into temptation.
Bump!
Just for what it's worth, I think it goes far beyond the idea of temptations although they certainly do play a role.
There's a number of studies examining environmental effects on food intake and it's pretty fascinating stuff.0 -
Love this!
One thing that's helped make decisions a little bit easier for me has been hearing the term "hyper-palatable, energy-dense food item" used on MFP. Honestly, it takes a lot of the pleasure out of eating junk food when I think of what it really is. Just because it tastes good does not mean that it is good in any other way. And knowing that companies have gone to a lot of trouble to try to make their food as tempting as possible to me to eat a lot of it makes me mad! They know exactly what they are doing. Whenever I happen to watch something on TV that has a lot of fast food ads showing their newest calorie-laden monstrosities, all I can think now is "b*******!" They are trying to get us at breakfast now, too. But we don't have to fall for it, do we?0 -
I was cleaning up my old bookmarks and ran across this post from Sidesteel. He is/was one of my favorite posters and what I think of as trustworthy. I thought it might help some beginners that are struggling with food choices.6
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Controlling my food environment has helped me a lot. My appetite and cravings are greatly affected by hormones, so I only bring bulk treats into my house during the three weeks that I'm not a hormonal mess. I'm fortunate in that I live alone and we don't really have a lot of office food, so I have a strong amount of control over my food environment.3
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What I found helped me was to meal plan for the week and then order my groceries online. They cost me a little more but it also keeps my from those impulse buys. It is much easier to bypass the "snack" aisles if I can't see them and I can't hear them "calling my name".
The only place that I am still tempted is the drug store. At first I kept having the urge to go down the snack and candy aisle. It has gotten easier but I still think about them and just tell myself "NO".1
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