Maybe you didn’t sleep enough last night, even though you know you’re supposed to have eight hours of quality shut-eye. There is even a slight possibility that you had set your alarm for a nice morning run, but decided to sleep in a few more minutes instead. How about your breakfast? Maybe you grabbed a quick iced pastry or *gasp* skipped breakfast, even though you’ve heard time and again, from a young age, that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Perhaps you’ve been really ‘good’ this morning, but let’s not forget all the decisions you have in front of you like lunchtime options, afternoon workout – or not – that 3pm chocolate waiting in your desk drawer, grab takeout or prepare a good dinner, TV tonight or a walk around the block? Will you go to bed on time?

As a personal trainer and fitness instructor, I spend a lot of time coaching people not only on their squats and lunges, but also on ways to adjust their daily habits to make decisions that allow their lifestyle to eventually align with their goals.

How many health-related decisions do you think you make on a daily basis? Tons. And those little decisions add up to big results over time.

There is fascinating research on willpower and self-control. Basically, the theory is that we have a limited amount of willpower. If you go for some oatmeal instead of a pastry for breakfast, and that decision required a lot of self-control, you are much more likely to succumb to the short-term, emotional option when your next decision rolls around (i.e. the cookies lurking in your office). By the end of the day, your willpower is exhausted by all these little choices.

No, we’re not doomed. Here’s the good news!

By understanding why you make excuses and the emotion behind food, you can train your brain and create a game plan to set yourself up for success. ©iStockphoto.com/Tijana87

There are a few things that you can do to ‘automate’ your decision-making process and set yourself up for success. ‘Set yourself up for success’ is a nice way of saying that I’m going to help you limit some of your excuses for making bad decisions throughout the day. I like to use the parallel to personal finances: if you do a little work ahead of time to set up your automatic 401k or loan payments, the results will arrive later down the road without too much effort or decision-making. The trick is to prepare and set up routines, habits, and accountability that remove the opportunity for your short-term emotions to take over. With some effort up front, you can start to build a healthier lifestyle – and even enjoy it!

So now you know that all is not lost, stay tuned for Part 2 for simple tips to help you set up better food-related habits.

PREPARATION IS KEY TO BETTER FOOD-RELATED HABITS

Part 2

FIND OUT MORE!

11 COMMENTS

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by Nadine 05.10.2016
Sounds promising! Curious to learn about concrete action steps in Pt 2.
Reply
Nina Weihrauch
Nina Weihrauch | Editor Nadine 06.10.2016
Stay tuned, Nadine :)

Best,

Nina
Reply
by Brooke Rosenbauer Nadine 20.10.2016
Here it is! Enjoy!
http://www.gameplan-a.com/2016/10/preparation-is-key-to-better-food-related-habits/?section=main
Reply
by Juliana 20.10.2016
The comments about self-control is perfect! My main problem is just it.
I'm also curious about steps in Pt 2.
Reply
by Brooke Rosenbauer Juliana 20.10.2016
Here it is! Enjoy!
http://www.gameplan-a.com/2016/10/preparation-is-key-to-better-food-related-habits/?section=main
Reply
by Juliana Brooke Rosenbauer 20.10.2016
Thank you so much!!!
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by nutrition expert 14.08.2018
This is really a great motivation for me to achieve my plan of Healthy diet. I like your writing style, I have now realized that how can I make a good plan with my diet.Thanks for sharing.
Reply
by Brooke nutrition expert 17.08.2018
Thanks so much for reading! Glad you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for a new article coming out next month :)
Reply
by Naima Tahsin 20.04.2020
Thank you for sharing such an inspirational write up. I hope I am going to enforce some extra willpower to maintain a regular healthy lifestyle.
Reply
by Jay Pope 21.05.2021
Thanks for the info. You’ve explained very well. Keep Posting,
Reply
by BK Go Gift Yourself 27.06.2022
Thanks for sharing!
Really informative and helpful blog.
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