The power of food choices

Did you know that we are making 200+ food-related decisions per day? Knoweldge is power, and the power of our food choices can change the trajectory of our health and performance.

A study done on 139 people show that most people estimate that they make about 15 food-related decisions per day. This means that most people underestimate the power of their decisions on their food choices.
Another study looking at 749 interviewed comments of controlled field studies found that environmental cues play a huge role in food choices. For example, people overserved and overconsumed more food (31%) when they were given an environmental prompt, such as a bigger bowl, larger serving spoon, etc. Only 45% attributed their food choices to other reasons like hunger.

Two important facts arise from these studies. First, most people are aware of less than 10% of their daily food choices. Mindless eating and choosing can have a great impact on your goals in nutrition and fitness. Secondly, we are not aware of the impact our environment has on our food choices, and are underutilizing our environment as a vehicle to get us to our goals.

Some ways you can set your environment up for success include:

1. Making sure you have healthy food in the house. Having quick access to healthy foods makes you much more likely to choose them.
2. Putting healthy food, like fruit and vegetables, at eye level makes you much more likely to make healthy food choices.
3. Have a water bottle at hand, and make sure you take regular sips during the day. Put your water bottle next to your bed and make sure to drink a few sips right after you get up.
4. Have smaller plates and spoons to dish up with.
5. Get an accountability partner who will support you in your journey.
6. Plan your weekly meals in advance, and if you know you are short on time during the week, do some preparation on the weekend. For example, prepare some healthy stews, protein sources or veggies in advance and freeze them for during the week.

Why is this important?

Bringing awareness about food choices puts you in the driver’s seat of your nutrition. Oftentimes, you don’t need a fancy diet or supplement – you should be more aware of how you structure your environment to set you up for success, and bring more awareness to your food choices.

PS – want to become more mindful of your training and nutrition choices? Why not start with a training journal? The ELEVATE training journal is designed to help you track your progress, plan for success and become more mindful about your training and nutrition.