moonlight - I'm glad you are feeling encouraged, and I agree that really knowing why you are choosing this way of eating is quite important.
Amy - Thank you so much for the kind words!
JaBee - Maintaining satiety is definitely important!
Drew - That is great that you were able to have such good quality time with your wife. I'm so impressed by how well you are managing to provide support to your parents and make the necessary preparations to keep your meals on track, while maintaining a really positive attitude!
Chuck - Intact whole grains of all types can absolutely make a delicious breakfast. You'll have to let us know which you like the best. That salad prep looks awesome! My hat is off to you!
Jennifer - Way to go! That seems like a really effective strategy, you resolved your most important decisions in advance (committing to exercise and for a specific duration), but had the flexibility to accommodate your schedule. That continuing momentum is how you'll make it a habit.
Building on
wildgoose's post above, I think viewing
willpower as a limited (and even scarce) resource is an extremely useful framework. I'm one of those "hyper-conscientious nutcases," s
o the ideas that follow may not apply to everyone, but are things I've observed in my own journey (particularly when I have struggled). I think the vast majority of the time, most every decision we make is the one
our "brain" thinks will serve us best, under our current understanding of the circumstances and likely outcomes. But, when it comes to food, it's SO easy for our "decider" to be wrong because the modern food environment is essentially antithetical to the environment for which that "decider" was adapted.
We're basically working in opposition to some powerful mechanisms. And we're able to overrule those forces because we understand the science of why this way of eating serves us, and we're able to draw on a "reserve" of willpower to take the steps needed to eat in a healthful fashion and exercise. Some positive feedback and results may follow, and we are motivated, and we build on those successes -
now we are in a groove. Our routine is worked out, everything feels like it is going great, smooth sailing.
THEN, some complication arises that breaks that routine, AND NOW we
have to make some decisions again. If we're lucky, we again have some willpower to spend making the best choice we can. But often, the thing that knocked us out of our routine in the first place was stressful, exhausting, depleting and our willpower tank is running on empty. Nothing left to quiet that decider, and we "revert to form." Depending on the specific environment we're in and the circumstances this might place us right back in the pleasure trap and take some real time to regain ground.
How to avoid this? What works for me is to make all my "decisions" in an environment that is under my control and when I'm in my most resilient and capable state. That's the time to do any planning and preparing, put in the work, figure out how I'll manage "known" situations that are likely to be challenging. With all that "deciding" done when I'm at my best, I can proceed to coast ahead on the strength of my habits, until the next time I need to "plan my attack." I think, especially while we're working on changing (rather than just maintaining) behaviors, we can't afford to underestimate the capacity for any little hurdle or hiccup to knock us out of a groove, if anything I've found it best to over prepare! After a significant time of proving to myself that I knew and understood the best way for me to handle just about any situation related to my lifestyle choices (mainly by actually experiencing those struggles and figuring out what I needed to make things work), I rarely have to do much strategizing for what comes, but that was hard-won experience that absolutely didn't happen in a week, or a month, or really even six months. Again, I want to reiterate that this is just what I've observed on my own journey, and what seems to have worked for me, so one's mileage may vary. But in general, it seems wise to me to do as much as we're able to avoid having to make those choices "on-the-spot," that might mean never leaving the house without an apple, banana, or some cooked potatoes in a bag, it might mean bringing along our own food to a gathering or even a restaurant, it might mean deciding in advance that before you choose to consume food that doesn't adhere to the guidelines, you will ALWAYS take a moment to eat something that is adherent first. Last week, my wife and daughter wanted to have an evening out and dine at Red Robin - the only things I can eat on that menu are steamed broccoli and a very basic salad (sans dressing). Rather than just hoping for the best, I microwaved a couple of sweet potatoes before we left, threw them in a bag along with my silicone container of lemon juice, cider vinegar and balsamic. Consequently, I was able to start my Red Robin meal with a salad, and my sweet potatoes were delicious with a side of broccoli, and we all had a lovely evening. We owe it to ourselves to do the things that will give us the best chance of succeeding, because succeeding in the world of 2020 is HARD and everything around us makes it EASY to fail.