Your Still Allowed To Choose
It took me a little while to learn that when I make Brooks a meal, I can give him maybe two or three options. I used to give him a dozen and he would get frustrated - what to choose?!
It’s easier for him to choose when there are only two options because there is less guilt about what he didn’t pick. We’re all like this, we think choice is a luxury when, really, it’s often a source of anxiety.
I mean, have you seen the cookie aisle at your grocery store? I swear, I only pass through it on my way to the produce section (winky face), but there are a billion options. Chocolate chip, chocolate chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin (for some reason), soft-baked, crunch. And Oreos. And knock-off Oreos. And that's not even counting what they have back in the bakery. Tell someone to pick just ONE, and they might have a hard time.
Sure, some might go for their favorites, but what if they want to try something new? They call it the paradox of choice - the more options you have to choose from, the less certain about the choice you ultimately end up making.
When it comes to nutrition planning, every person I have ever coached has felt that moment of anxiety. They feel like I’m going to take away something from them - like their choices in the cookie aisle. Then end up focusing so much on things they might not get to have, they end up being blind to the things they can still enjoy.
The truth is: when you have fewer choices, you tend to enjoy the choices you do have.
Costco works with this idea: less is more. They are able to keep prices low and sell in bulk because there’s really only ONE option for everything in the store. And, because of how they do things, if a company wants to sell their stuff in Costco, it has to be 1% better than anything else they sell anywhere. Less choice, better product!
So much of smart eating is about having good choices around you, which means you might have to plan a little further out. Meal-planning isn't about being a trendy athlete; it’s about making sure you have the right foods around you when you know you'll be hungry so you can make better choices. Better choices get you to your goals faster.
Maybe it's not about limiting yourself to the one thing you can have; perhaps it’s about deciding the one thing you can't have.
The question you might want to ask yourself: what is the ultimate choice you are making? It’s not about whether or not supporting Girl Scout cookie sales will derail you from your health goals. Instead, you should be choosing to have ONE Thin Mint at a time, rather than the whole sleeve.
You’re not deciding what you can and can’t eat or if you should workout or watch TV. You’re ultimately choosing what kind of life you want to live and the energy you want to have.
