Automate Your Weight Loss
Sarah spent half her day looking up healthy recipes on Pinterest. By dinner time she realized she didn’t have any of the stuff at home to make these recipes and it was too late in the day to grocery shop and also cook it up. So, Sara ended up at the drive-through.
Ok – Sara is me. I did this. I probably did this many times in my former unhealthy life.
Have you ever spent so long planning something that you didn’t have time to actually do it?! Or is it just me?
Decision fatigue is a huge problem right now. We have TOO MANY CHOICES! How in the world can be this be a bad thing? Variety is the spice of life. Well, hang with me here and I’ll explain what decision fatigue is, how to know if it’s an issue for you, and how you can put a little automation into your weight loss efforts, so things roll forward like a well-oiled machine.
In the not-so-distant past, humans had way fewer options. Options for what? Options for everything! You ate what you hunted or foraged. Now if you have some chicken in the fridge you have to decide between 25 different chicken recipes just to turn it into an actual meal. In the past, you found an animal and tossed it on the fire. The end!
You wore whatever clothes you had made; you didn’t walk into a closet full of clothes and state “I have nothing to wear.” You have things to wear, you’re just sick of deciding what to wear.
Your entertainment was talking with your tribe, the only decision was which human you would interact with, and would you talk, sing, dance, or play a game? Now, you turn on Netflix with thousands of shows and state “There’s nothing on TV”. Say what? There’s plenty on TV. You just don’t want to decide.
Every aspect of our lives has been blessed with an abundance of choices. You can have anything you want, practically when you want it.
Our brain likes autopilot. It takes mental energy to make decisions, and it takes mental energy to do new things. Even when those new things aren’t any more difficult than the old thing. New tasks take energy, decisions take energy.
Why does this matter?
When you have an abundance of decisions to make and you finally make one, and then it involves you doing something “new”…your brain goes into melt down mode. You revert right back to old behaviors like eating lasagna instead of baked chicken or watching TV instead of going for a run.
Your brain is tired of making decisions all day long,
so when you start planning a weight-loss regiment which involves making even more decisions, sometimes it just up and quits on you!
If you find that you…
>>> procrastinate taking action
>>> feel like you don’t have TIME to lose weight
>>> are impulsive with your choices instead of intentional
>>> feel like you spend all your time planning (meals, workouts, etc)
>>> spend hours online looking at recipes then end up eating the same old unhealthy things
>>> feel exhausted thinking about getting started
If you want to hit your goals more efficiently and with less misery…start to automate!
Meaning, you decide once and put it on auto-pilot.
Want to lessen the decisions you make in life? You’re in good company. Many high-performing humans have discussed openly some very simple ways they make fewer decisions in their daily life, so they have time to focus on the important decisions they need to make. Barak Obama for example has said he wears the same blue or gray suits every day, so he doesn’t have to think about what to wear.
Strategies for Automation
The fewer decisions you have to make on a daily basis in regards to your health, the more likely you are to succeed at hitting your goals. This takes a little more intention and decision-making up front, but then you make way fewer decisions down the road.
Let’s start with food. This is something most people think about all day long. You eat and immediately after you think about where your next meal is coming from. If you eat three to four times a day, and you’re deciding what to eat for each meal, that’s a lot of time and mental energy spent thinking about food!
Strategy # 1 – Eat the same things
Most people I know who stay fit eat roughly the same things all the time. Yes, you need a variety of foods to get different nutrients. But, you can totally get that rotating the same meals over and over. What this looks like exactly can vary but I’ll tell ya how I structure my food.
I have two breakfast items that I rotate and a few lunch items. I keep a running list of dinner choices on my phone in a note for quick reference. Because I don’t use recipes often, which we’ll get to in a minute, I can just grab whatever I have on hand for dinner and make it.
Everything that I make for breakfast and lunch can be made to last three to five days. So, I make a big batch and eat that for most of the week. I spend WAY less time in the kitchen deciding, cooking, and cleaning up. I make one easy recipe and eat it for days.
I am not thinking about breakfast or lunch on most days. It doesn’t sound like much relief, but trust me, it makes a huge difference in my food choices and my stress levels. Instead of planning 3 meals a day, I plan dinner only – because breakfast and lunch are automated.
I keep my breakfast and lunch go-to’s in a note on my phone because I alternate between clean eating and keto. So, I have different recipes for both and I don’t want to waste a single second thinking of new recipes each time I switch back and forth between the eating plans.
Plan it once and be done!
I get variety at dinner, but again, I am running off a list of go–to recipes, I’m not reinventing the wheel all the time. I do play with new recipes on my days off because I enjoy the kitchen and it is a hobby for me. But, it is not part of my daily life because I’m a busy momma and I ain’t got time for that. Neither do you lady, automate!
Strategy # 2 - Break-up with recipes
Instead of searching for new recipes all the time, clean up your usual meals. Going back to the fact that your brain takes more energy to do something new than it does to do something familiar, it makes sense to make familiar things healthier.
When you have had a long week, the last thing you want to do is read through some new recipe and try it out in the kitchen. Even if the recipe is simple, it takes brainpower to read through everything and you may be using weird new ingredients you’re unfamiliar with. Your brain wants to DEFAULT to something familiar.
So, give it something familiar with a healthy make-over! Here are a few common American dinners cleaned up, but you can do this with anything.
>>> Tacos: Cook the meat and stuff it in a poblano pepper, put it on a salad, or eat it right out of the bowl instead of using shells. The family can still have the shells, so they’re happy without you making two different meals. Beef, lettuce, salsa (no sugar added), guacamole… there are so many healthy parts to taco night.
>>> Spaghetti: Brown up some ground beef and add a jar of Rao’s sauce (because they don’t add sugar). Instead of regular noodles use Banza noodles for some added protein, or another vegetable-based noodle, like Palmini or Miracle noodles. If you can’t find those or don’t want to spend the extra money, just chop and sautee some vegetables like zucchini to put your sauce and meat on top of. The kids can still have regular noodles if you want without you making an extra meal, just like with the tacos.
>>> Meatloaf: This is a super easy clean-up. Instead of using breadcrumbs, use almond flour! I don’t even measure it, I just add it until it looks right. Blend in some eggs and whatever herbs you like. I use garlic powder, onion powder, and parsley. If you usually use ketchup or BBQ sauce on top, just skip it or put it on half for the family. If you love BBQ, Primal kitchen makes one that will scratch the itch. Of course, it’s not as good as normal BBQ which is loaded with sugar, but it’s something.
>>> Tuna helper: Maybe this is a weird one, but I grew up on boxed food and I love my tuna helper! You can whip something similar up in lots of ways. I like to take one of the noodle options I mentioned for spaghetti, add a little grass-fed butter, some olive oil, and lots of garlic. If I’m on a meal plan allowing cheese I will sprinkle some on as well, maybe even make a sauce with a little heavy cream. That makes it seem more like tuna noodle, but I’m usually too lazy to even do that. Toss on a can or two of tuna and viola…healthy tuna noodle helper.
Cleaning up your normal dinners eliminates looking for new recipes, which is time-consuming, but it can also help with your cravings. If you grew up eating tuna noodle helper and you’re now trying to eat fancy food, you begin to want your old comfort foods.
By taking the idea behind your normal meals and using healthier ingredients, you kinda scratch that itch. It’s not exact, but it’s close enough to be satisfying. Way more satisfying than eating something completely foreign to your normal routine, even if the “new foods” are good and you enjoy them, sometimes you need familiar.
Strategy # 3 - Tracking ahead of time
If you’re trying to be precise with your food and track your intake, enter everything into your log BEFORE you eat it. This is helpful for the planning itself because you make adjustments to what you will eat the next day to get to your goals. You can’t change it after you eat it! But it does something else…
When your intake is planned out for the day, you have zero decisions to make the following day. You get offered a cupcake at work, “Nope, I’ve got my day all planned out”. You also don’t fall victim to the… “I didn’t bring anything to eat and this was the healthiest thing the cafeteria had,” she said while eating chicken fingers and fried zucchini.
It’s planned out ahead of time, it’s already prepared because you made enough to eat for the next 4 days, and you can just keep copying forward in your tracker app. You enter it once, then move it forward!
The plan is locked into your brain and you’re prepared for the day so no random ideas about what to eat as you move through your busy day.
Ah, what a relief right?!
Strategy # 4 - Plan your workouts
Don’t wait until you get to the gym to decide what you’re going to do. You’ll walk around aimlessly doing a little of this, a little of that. You’ll think you got a great workout because you were thinking so darn much about what to do, but the reality is that you wasted most of your time deciding – then felt tired and went home.
The same is true for planning WHEN you work out. Build a routine so you don’t have to think about it, and make it fit your life.
Decide how many rest days you need, and where they best fit on your calendar. How many days of lifting? How many days of cardio? What’s the best time of day for you to go based on your calendar and when you feel like doing it?
I can do a little cardio in the morning, but even though lifting weights is my favorite, I do not enjoy it until mid-afternoon or later. As you get to know things like that about yourself, plan around it when possible to make less resistance for yourself.
I’m a big fan of paying a little extra for someone to make my decisions, so group fitness or personal training gets a big gold star in my book. When I go to a CrossFit-style gym, yoga, etc., I don’t have to decide anything except when to show up! Which, I do the same time all the time so I’m not deciding that!!
If that’s not in the budget or you just don’t enjoy group classes, find a fitness program online. There are many free ones you can print and take to the gym with you, or there are some inexpensive ones you can buy from trainers online.
This gives you a plan, which means fewer decisions for you!
Strategy # 5 - Morning routine
Starting every day the same way has many benefits! It builds routine and structure which we all need, but it can also ensure you’re getting in the right mindset each and every day before you go tackle life.
It does not have to be elaborate, but I would encourage you to have a little “me time” before rushing out the door each day, even if it’s just 5 minutes.
Personally, I enjoy getting up with my coffee and reading my Bible. If you think I act a mess now, you should see me when I don’t get my Jesus time.
When you’re starting on a health journey it’s helpful to take a moment each day thinking about why you’re doing what you’re doing and visualizing the end goal! This is something we talk a lot about in The Academy and the women who do it have way better results than the ones who do not.
Once you get in a routine in the morning it can also help you be consistent with the rest of your day. Maybe you toss your workout clothes in your work bag as you get dressed in the morning, so your clothes are with you and you can go right to the gym later.
Or, you always make time to sit and eat your breakfast, then grab your healthy lunch. These things don’t seem like much, but any little thing that you can build into your routine that keeps you on track and eliminates making decisions in the morning will go a long way.
Get you a winning morning routine for weight loss friend!
Strategy # 6 - Hire a mentor
One thing I love to work with my own clients on is how to build some automation into their routine. I’m sure there are many mentors you can find to help you with this as well. When you work with someone to create an action plan to get you to your health goals, you can work together to build a routine that works for your unique needs and life circumstances. Once you have this all ironed out things just plug along with a lot less resistance.
Wrap It Up
The possibilities of how you build automation into your routine are endless. What works for you will not be the same as what works for me. But you can start the process by looking at where you currently are and where you want to be. What changes do you need to make to get you to your goal? And finally, look for ways to implement these changes into your daily life with routine and less winging it. What things can you put in place to lessen the choices you’re having to make day in and day out?
Can you…
>>> Find a few go-to things to eat for breakfast and lunch
>>> Clean up family favorites for dinner instead of using recipes
>>> Track your food intake ahead of time instead of as you go
>>> Plan out your workout routine
>>> Develop a morning routine
>>> Hire a mentor
If you want help structuring a weight loss strategy that fits your life, you can subscribe to my 5-part email series! This has all the secrets of how I structure a winning weight loss plan for my clients, and it’s FREE. Bonus…ya also get access to my entire resource library and you can do that right here.
