Out of sight, Out of mind!

Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I would like to give you a simple suggestion to help you reach your nutrition goals.  All you need to do is keep the foods that are not part of your healthy diet out sight, this way you won’t have them as an option.  While this may seem overly simplistic, it will help with a common stumbling block for many people who are trying to avoid certain foods.  People with the best intentions to “eat better” sometimes “fall off” their diets, or “cheat” when they see a food that they are trying to avoid.  That’s why this simple tip of keeping foods that you are trying to avoid out of your sight can actually be pretty profound. 

Ryan and Tim are co-workers of mine who are into fitness, work out regularly, and make healthy food choices the majority of the time.  However, in certain situations, they make less healthy

food choices as a result of seeing something they normally wouldn’t want as part of their diet.  When co-workers bring in baked goods to celebrate a special occasion, Ryan is often the first in line with a plate.  Furthermore, he will usually go back for a second helping.  But I have seen him been asked how he maintains a low body fat percentage if he loves baked goods so much.  He replies that he normally doesn’t eat that type of food, and doesn’t even crave it.  However, when it is in front of him, he simply has to have it.  In a similar way, Tim strays from his usually well balanced lunches when he

sees people eating pizza for lunch.  Tim starts out on the right track by being prepared with a healthy

lunch everyday, but when he sees people eating pizza, he often says that because it looks so good, he is going to have a slice.  In these examples it was pretty unavoidable for Ryan and Tim to avoid seeing their downfall foods, but it does illustrate the point that they would not have made the unhealthy choice if they never had seen the food.

As a responsible fitness conscious individual, you are in control of your food choices the majority of the time.  While there may be times when your choices are limited, you are most in control of the foods that will be in front of you when you go food shopping.  There are many tips to making healthy food choices while shopping such as sticking to the list when you are at the store, or only shopping on the perimeter aisles of the market.  These guidelines help you make healthy choices at a later time, because have you not brought home a food that you will be tempted to eat simply because it is there. 

           Maintaining a healthy body composition goes hand-in-hand with making healthy food choices on a regular basis. Although it is ok to occasionally eat something for pure enjoyment, if there are constant temptations in front of you, there is a greater chance you will succumb to it.  So your best chance of making healthy food choices on a regular basis is once again to simply not have those tempting choices in front of you.  If the package of cookies or bag of chips were not in front of you, they wouldn’t be a choice in your brain, and therefore not getting into your mouth.

The saying “out of sight, out of mind” could and should be applied to maintaining your healthy diet.  Without the option of seeing a food that would be tempting for the wrong reasons, you would not have them as a choice.  Yes, there will be times when your options are beyond your control, but regularly making healthy food choices is a lifestyle, and will directly contribute to a healthy body composition.  One of the simplest ways of doing this is by limiting the amount of options your brain has to decide upon.  Without seeing the unhealthy option, you have a greater chance of making a healthy food choice and maintaining a fit new you.