Tips For Women Struggling With Snacking Or Overeating In The Evening
QUOTE:
“Indecision is a decision.” -Anonymous
TOPIC:
DECISION FATIGUE
Decisions guide our daily lives.
From the moment we wake up, to the moment we go to bed, we are consciously or unconsciously making decisions.
Decisions like:
What will I wear today? Skirt or pants? Blouse or a sweater?
Will I shave today when I shower, or put if off to another day?
Will I dry my hair with the hairdryer, or will I let my hair air dry?
Do I want to wear my hair up or down today?
Which earrings and necklace will I choose to go with my outfit…do I want to wear silver or gold?
Which shoes will look best with my outfit?
These are just a sampling of a few of the decisions you may make within the first 30 minutes after waking in the morning.
Everyone has a limit of decision making they can tolerate before their brain tires.
The more your mental stamina is depleted, the harder it is to make a decision.
This is known as decision fatigue.
The more decisions you’ve made earlier in the day, the less ability you will have to make quality decisions later in the day (without rest in the middle of the day to recharge your mind).
Studies have found that as decision fatigue increases, impulse control decreases.
Dartmouth researcher Todd Heatherton’s study on decision fatigue showed that when glucose (in the brain) is low, your brain continues functioning.
However, it shifts its energy, causing the brain to react to instant gratification over honoring long-term desires.
As New York Times science columnist, John Tierney, shared in his 2011 article, “Do You Suffer from Decision Fatigue?”
“The discoveries about glucose help explain why dieting is a uniquely difficult test of self-control — and why even people with phenomenally strong willpower in the rest of their lives can have such a hard time losing weight. They start out the day with virtuous intentions, resisting croissants at breakfast and dessert at lunch, but each act of resistance further lowers their willpower. As their willpower weakens late in the day, they need to replenish it. But to resupply that energy, they need to give the body glucose. They’re trapped in a nutritional catch-22:
1. In order not to eat, a dieter needs willpower.
2. In order to have willpower, a dieter needs to eat.”
Grocery stores are very aware of this, and this is why sweet snacks like candy bars and soft drinks are placed at the checkout line.
After making so many decisions on what products to purchase, your decision fatigue makes you more susceptible to marketing schemes, and you are more likely to grab sugary foods you hadn’t intended to purchase.
Since losing and maintaining weight is a series of decisions throughout every single day, how can we use this important information about cognitive function and decision fatigue to aid us with our weight maintenance goals?
1. Make decisions ahead of time with planning.
If planning is new to you, start small by planning 24 hours in advance.
Work your way to planning out your entire week on Sunday or first thing Monday morning using a digital calendar or a paper calendar.
Note and allow for when you need your decision-making skills the most—maybe it’s at work, or maybe it’s parenting your kids.
2. Create more habits and/or routines.
Habits and routines allow us to go into auto-pilot so we don’t have to consciously make decisions, conserving mental stamina.
Find areas in your life where you can create habits and routines, for example:
When to go to bed each night.
When you wake up each morning.
What to eat for breakfast (choose to eat the same food(s) every day).
What days and times you will exercise during the week.
Create a grocery list before shopping, and purchase only what’s on the list.
Shop for groceries on the same day every week.
Check Facebook or your social media account at the same time each day, and decide ahead of time how long you have to browse your account.
3. Limit your choices.
Eat the same foods for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner every day.
Cut back your wardrobe to a certain number of outfits (or have one outfit like Simon Cowell from American Idol and American’s Got Talent!).
Exercise on the same days of the week.
Choose one social media platform to participate on.
4. Limit your decision-making time.
In a study of having days versus hours to make a decision, 70% with days to decide regretted their decision, where those who only had a few hours to decide were 90% happy with their decision.
Too much time opens the door for worry and fear.
To wrap up, reduce decision fatigue and its negative effects on your weight control by deciding on what you can, when you can.
QUESTION:
How am I going to live today in order to create the tomorrow I’m committed to?
As Tony Robbins say, “If we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.”