Hi First name / there,

 

We like to believe willpower is the deciding factor on whether or not we are successful at sticking to an eating plan etc... Mostly, it is not, it is your environment.

 

If you think about it, food has never been easier to reach. There is something tempting in every office kitchen or break room, every checkout counter is lined with quick (tasty) things to grab, as is every cupboard and even at the bottom of your handbag (especially if you are a mum carrying snacks for small people). Asking yourself to resist ALL of it, ALL day, EVERY day, is a losing game.

 

Here is something that you may not be aware of, willpower is not something you either have or you don't. It runs down. You can start the day off strong but at the end of a day full of decisions, meetings, school runs, emails and dinner negotiations, there is not much left in the tank. That is not a character flaw or a lack of willpower, that is being a person in real life, and we have all been there.

 

So, stop relying on willpower alone and feeling like a failure when that doesn't work, and start designing for yourself instead.

 

You do not need to throw anything out, just move it. Crisps and biscuits go in a tin you cannot see into, on a top shelf, behind something else. Sweets come off the kitchen counter and out of your desk drawer. If it takes a chair and a bit of effort to get to, you will reach for it far less often (and when you do, it will be because you want it, not simply because it was there).

 

Whatever sits at eye level in your fridge is what you will eat, so make it count. Greek yoghurt, cooked chicken, boiled eggs, cottage cheese, washed berries, chopped veg with hummus. Spend 20 minutes on a Sunday prepping two or three of these and your weekday self has options before she has even opened the door. I make sure I always have an easy option to hand, not because I love prepping (I don't), but because I know exactly how easy it is to grab whatever is to hand when it has been one of those days.

 

Look at where you usually trip up, then remove a step. Protein shake already in your gym bag if that is your thing, fruit bowl on the counter where the biscuit tin used to live, three or four lunches you can make in 5 minutes without thinking, a water bottle filled and on your desk before you start work. The easier the ‘good’ option, the less you have to argue with yourself.

 

This is not about banning anything because banning foods just makes you want them more (you know this). It is about adding a little friction in the right places, and taking it away in others.

 

Because the version of you who is tired at 9pm, who has had a day and a half, who is standing in the kitchen with the cupboard door open, does not need to be a hero, she just needs the easy option to be the right one.

 

Your homework this week: pick ONE spot (it could be your fridge, your desk, your car) and rearrange it. That's it.