Bright Lines

Nutrition doesn’t have to be as complicated as we make it. At the same time, there is a lot more going on than we realize.

When we eat in ways we wish we hadn’t, there are hundreds of factors at play, many influencing us without our recognition.

I ate too much because…I was stressed, tired, angry, bored, anxious, sad...the list goes on.

We all know this intuitively...but it's usually in hindsight.

Along with our emotions, our willpower works against us too.

Research shows that our will power fatigues and it is finite.

Have you ever noticed you make worse eating decisions at night?

• 8:00 - Don’t need that brownie

• 11:00 - Don’t need that cookie

• 3:00 - Might need those chips

• 5:00 - Probably need that candy

• 8:00 - Definitely need that ice cream, and everything else I will-powered my way past during the day.

So with these somewhat invisible emotions and our finite willpower pulling the strings of our eating habits, what defense do we have?

Let's add 2 tools to your arsenal today that take emotions and willpower out of the equation.

Tool #1 - Buy your willpower at the store.

This goes back to shaping our environment. If we know our willpower will eventually fail us, we can’t have the foods that tempt us in our home.

So, we buy our willpower at the store by putting the foods we want to eat in our cart and leaving the foods we don’t out. We make our decision ahead of time...at the store.

Tool #2 - Bright Lines

When lawyers draw up contracts they use a concept known as bright lines. A bright line is a decision that is crystal clear, with zero ambiguity.

We can draw bright lines with our nutrition decisions as well. We can make decisions that are crystal clear, with no ambiguity.

Let’s look at an example. We’ll assume that you don’t believe Burger King is a positive choice for your health, and you want to stop eating it. (Sorry BK...OK, not really sorry.)

Blurry Line: I want to eat less Burger King.

Bright Line: I don’t eat Burger King.

Big difference.

With the blurry line, we have no idea when we have crossed the line and when we haven't. With the bright line, there’s no doubt.

Two caveats here:

1. Bright lines can’t be used for everything. Saying I will never eat an unhealthy food again is likely unrealistic and a recipe for failure. Remember 80/20.

2. We need self-compassion. Just because you draw the bright line, “I don't eat Burger King,” doesn’t mean you will be perfect following it, at least at first. The key is that you KNOW, without a doubt, when you cross your line.

So today, let's decide to buy our willpower at the store and draw bright lines...one-minute at a time.