“It is more effective to design an environment where you don’t need willpower than to rely on willpower to conquer your environment.”- James Clear
Obesity has been called an environmental issue. Fast food and sedentary lifestyles have become the norm. In order to overcome this environmental issue, you must begin to take more control of your environment. You can begin taking control by changing your work and home environment.
Founder of Precision Nutrition, Dr. John Berardi’s First Law states, “If a food is in your house or possession, either you, someone you love, or someone you marginally tolerate, will eventually eat it.” The effect of Berardi’s First Law is that it doesn’t matter how much willpower you have, one night you’re going to cave and eat the pizza you have in the freezer. The strategies listed below help limit cues for unhealthy habits and make the act of being healthier a little bit easier.
Simple Strategies
Place vegetables on the top shelf of your fridge: You’ll see the veggies more often which will increase your veggie intake.
Remove unhealthy foods from your home: Make sure you replace the unhealthy foods with your favorite healthy foods. If you’re unwilling to remove some food items, then place your unhealthy snacks in hard to reach places like on the top shelf in the pantry or in back of the freezer. Out of sight, out of mind.
Replace your larger plates with smaller plates. In one study conducted at Cornell University, it was found that switching from a 12-inch plate to a 10-inch plate led to a 22% reduction in calories consumed.
Lay out your workout clothes the night before. If you still find it difficult to work out in the morning after trying this strategy than take it a step further and sleep in your workout clothes.
Keep a packed gym bag in your car at all times: This will make it easier to go straight from work to the gym.
These are just a few tips. The options are endless. These tips follow the same principle, they make the healthy thing easier to do and they make the unhealthy thing more difficult. Now you can use this principle to generate your own ideas. References Poston, Walker & Foreyt, John. (1999). Obesity is an environmental issue. Atherosclerosis. 146. 201-9. 10.1016/S0021-9150(99)00258-0.
Van Ittersum, Koert, and Brian Wansink (2012). Plate Size and Color Suggestibility: The Delboeuf Illusion’s Bias on Serving and Eating Behavior. Journal of Customer Research, 39(2), 215-228. Doi: 10.1086/662615.
Berardi, Dr. John, and Ryan Andrews. The Essentials of Sport and Exercise Nutrition. second. Precision Nutrition. INC, 2012. 345-351. Print—— Change pg. number
Comments