See the Healthy Foods First: Choice Architecture for Weight Loss

Can you lose weight & boost sports performance when food is there ALL the time?

Food is present everywhere we go.  It’s very common for an athlete to ask me if they can possibly drop some pounds with all that tasty goodness staring them in the face!  Turns out, the answer is yes!

See the healthy foods first by changing up what’s easy to see when you walk into the kitchen.  This is known as “choice architecture.”  And I can tell you from years of working with athletes and clients that it helps to have insider knowledge on how to change your environment to support weight loss. Without the extra help and insider information, people tend to fail. They revert back to their old habits and give in.

There are three “choice architecture” steps.

These steps will not only help you with weight loss if that is one of your goals, but they will help improve your sports performance because you will be eating more of those foods that  work for you, not against you.

1. Make it harder to find the junk food, candy and processed snacks you want
2. Get really tough on items that test your willpower
3. Make it easy to find healthy foods and snacks

STEP #1: OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND:

Make sure those tasty foods are out of sight. We eat what we see.  Move those tasty junk foods into cabinets, the back of the top shelf in the pantry, the bottom freezer shelf or into different, opaque packaging.  Then move the foods you should be eating into easily visible spots.

• Keep sugary cereals, cookies, candy and chips in a cabinet or pantry, not on the counter. If you can put them into different containers, even better!
• Sports drinks can be stored on the pantry floor. Alternatively, they’ll be fine in the garage or basement or in the back of the closet near your cleats (or bike shoes or basketball shoes or flippers).  They’re not for any time drinking, so they shouldn’t be in the kitchen with the any time foods.
• Put ice cream in the back of the freezer, blocked by a healthier option such as frozen fruit. If you can put it in an opaque bag or container, that’s even better.  Messy, but better.
• If you have to have a candy dish on your desk at home or at work, put it behind you or in a drawer.
• Move the baking supplies, including chocolate chips, honey, and molasses, down to knee level.

STEP #2: GET TOUGH ON THE HIGHLY DESIRED FOODS

To go the extra mile, make those foods really, really hard to get to!

• Don’t buy them. It’s much harder to eat a bag of chips if you have to head out to the store and buy them every time you want a snack.
• If you must buy them, only buy one style or flavor. People eat less if there’s a limited variety.  As a corollary, only buy one package per trip so that there’s an unhealthy-snack-free time between the end of the package and the next shopping trip.
• Buy small packages, like the snack packs. Going back to get another package is an extra step that will slow down your consumption.

STEP #3: MAKE IT EASY TO GET TO THE HEALTHY FOOD

You want to make sure that you see the healthy foods first thing into the kitchen.

• Leave a bowl of fresh fruit prominently placed on your kitchen counter. Apples, bananas and oranges are fine at room temperature.
• Put fresh cut veggies and fruit at eye level in the fridge. Ditto with plain yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese sticks, hard-boiled eggs, hummus, roasted vegetables and pre-cooked meat.
• Put canned fruit and vegetables or dried beans and grains at eye level in the pantry. Unflavored popcorn, nuts and nut butters and dried fruit can be nearby and visible.
• Have a moderate variety of healthy snacks in reasonable amounts. You’ll enjoy the variety of options.

With the unhealthy foods that don’t support your performance out of sight and out of mind, it will be easier for you to pick foods that you like AND that encourage fueling, recovery or growth as an athlete.  These all lead to better sports performance!

These three choice architecture steps will get you on the right path to having a good eating/ nutrition and training plan that works.

You can also download my free Lists of Snacks for Winning Athletes to support training and competing in your sport.

Interested in information about when to lose weight when it feels like you’re training all the time?  Check it out here in my blog on Weight Loss in Athletes: What, When and How. If you don’t cook, here’s information on making healthy fast food choices.