While knowledge about unlocking set point speaks to our conscious mind, we make most of our food intake decisions subconsciously. Because we're instinctively designed to prefer choices that soothe us, give us instant gratification from boost of dopamine, and feel more hunger when we have lost weight, we have to plan around our impulses. Here are steps you can take to structure your microenvironment, to guide your non-thinking actions. Step one is meal planning. When you meal plan, you select dinners and recipes, shop for ingredients, and prep ahead of time, for example, by chopping vegetables for the whole week. Even if it's done one day rather than a week at a time, meal planning is a vital part of changing your dietary habits. By dedicating time to making deliberate and sensible choices using fresh whole food, you avoid making last minute meal decisions when you're hungry and tired. While it may seem time-consuming, typically, it takes about an hour on the weekend to plan for the week. It actually ends up saving time and money. Meal planning doesn't mean that all your meals have to be home prepared. You can work in take-out or restaurant meals. But by planning ahead, you can select places that provide nutritional information and offer fresh ingredients. If you have kids, meal planning is also a great way to get them involved. The more your little helpers assist, the more they learn and get excited about eating healthy food. The second step is creating a healthy food microenvironment. Your food microenvironment includes all the places where you consume your meals and snacks, including at home, work, or on the go. Your goal for creating a healthy food microenvironment is to make eating well the easy default choice during times when you haven't had the chance to meal plan. Our Western food environment is one where choosing healthy food is challenging. Even the most health-conscious consumer can be tempted into unhealthy choices. While changing our food culture, we require a united effort by public health officials, policymakers, businesses, and consumers. You can begin your own transformation by controlling your personal food microenvironment. You can do this by keeping your pantry, refrigerator, freezer, office, or bag stocked with healthy staples. The path of least resistance will then work in your favor. Every food swap will be a small victory that shifts your momentum towards consistently choosing healthier foods. In addition to steering you away from foods high in calories, and low in nutritional value, other advantages to creating a healthy food microenvironment, are that you will reduce the impulse to stress eat, and you'll be less likely to binge on junk food. What foods should you stock? Here are some suggestions to get you started. For instance, in your pantry, keep sprout at 100 percent whole grain bread, intact whole grains, canned beans, spices, and extra virgin olive oil. In your refrigerator, stock non-dairy almonds soy, or rice milk, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, hummus, or non-fat plain yogurt. In the freezer, an assortment of fruit and vegetables, veggie burgers, cooked whole grains or edamame. Snacks in your pantry or office could be nuts, seeds, dried fruit, peanut butter, other nut butters or plain popcorn. The third and final step is building surroundings that support healthy habits. Our environment influences not only our food choices but all our habits and decisions. Our Western culture tends to be what researchers referred to as obesogenic, with automation and technology nudging us towards being more sedentary, sleep deprived, and stressed. In this final step, I want you to challenge yourself, to design not just your food microenvironment, but to think more broadly about your surroundings. Consider ways you can support the habits and behaviors you want to adopt. The basic principle is to remove hurdles from the habits that align with your goals and personal vision, and then add steps for the ones you wish to change. Here are some examples. If you want to check email and social media less often, delete bookmarks and automatic passwords for accessing your accounts. If you intend to drink more water, keep a water bottle with you. Lay out exercise clothes and shoes the night before if you want to start the day with a workout. To improve your sleep, set a bedtime and keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet. If your goal is to walk more, live in a walkable community or use public transportation. For reducing stress, start your day with a five minute meditation or keep a gratitude journal within reach. These are just some of the ways you can design your environment to default into healthy habits. Now, it's your turn to think about your personal vision and the changes in your microenvironment you want to make it happen.
