How to make better choices 😇

Have a plan.

Image: Kitchen Scene, with Jesus in the House of Martha and Mary in the background, Joachim Bueckelaer (copy after), 1569, Rijksmuseum. Used with permission.

Hi friends! I want to start digging into all your questions, which sit in my inbox with little gold stars. There are quite a few of them, so let me preface all the answers with a caveat. 

Here are some of the many things that I am not:

- nutritionist
- endocrinologist
- neuropsychologist
- any kind of physician or therapist
- fitness expert 
- sporty gal 
- extremely fit and thin

What I am is a post-spiritual, anti-self-improvement, recovered binge eater with a 50lb weight loss of many years' standing—and a few opinions. 

So with that, from a reader in Canada, this question:

Q: My biggest problem is choices. I seem to be pulled towards and reach for the worst option. I need to grab something...ooohhh look! A burger and poutine. Tired and don't feel like cooking? Pizza or fast food is the answer.

A: Yep, familiar! These are near-universal difficulties. Everyone needs more time, access to better choices, practice making decisions without panic, less pressure altogether. Meal planning is the usual solution offered for people who work long hours and get tired and hangry and don't want to cook. 

And meal planning solves a lot of problems, even for people completely in charge of their own schedule. Leftovers, repeats* and family faves avoid a ton of angst and kitchen disasters and overspending. Cooking ahead means you can make decisions in a fed and rested state--the kind of choices that will take care of you when you're under pressure and would normally "reach for the worst option".

But burgers, pizza and poutine aren't always bad choices. I like to have those things in the rotation! (And I'm really, really picky about them, which helps, and I encourage everyone to cultivate and exercise pickiness, where possible. And the wisdom to know when it's not.)

The thing is, I know that if I only get to have pizza when I'm exhausted and pressed for time, well, me, I'm probably going to be exhausted and pressed for time very soon. And I don't want to give myself more reasons to be disorganized.

So I don't know what will work best for you, but this is where I'd start: With a plan for a couple easy-ish meals—meals you like—that yield leftovers, and a couple nights out for burgers and pizza. And then I would adjust from there, always checking to see what parts of my experiment make life easier.

Let me know!

*Even people who object to "eating the same things over and over" order the same things over and over when they call out for pizza.
 
2020 planner available through this weekend.

If you have not reviewed your 2019 and thought about the shape of your 2020, my annual planner is still available to help you with that. You can use it with any calendaring system, digital or analog, that you prefer. You can get it here for $10 through SUNDAY.

And that's the week! MWAH.