Meet the Food Chain

Do you know the food choices that you make are led by a whole chain of events? Yes, there are many other factors that influence your food choices, rather than just environment and lifestyle.

Your personal food system determines those food choices; this system consists of two main components:

• Values: When it comes to food choices, different values play different roles depending on the environment. For example, you have two important values: eating healthy and keeping yourself active. So, whether you are going grocery shopping or outside to eat, your first priority will be eating healthy. On the other hand, you will try to do anything to manage your regular activity, whether going for a walk, having a gym session, or playing sports.

• Strategies: The second component of the food system is a number of strategies that make food choices simpler. You must be wondering what these strategies could be. Well, there are seven food-choice strategies that work well to achieve that goal, and we are here to tell you about those.

Food-Chain Strategies

Remember decision fatigue? It is a phenomenon in which we make more decisions which result in making the quality of those decisions worse. There can be various causes to this decision fatigue including mental health issues, medical issues, or other lifestyle changes.

However, to avoid this decision fatigue and make healthy food choices, you need to develop certain strategies.

According to Researchers at Cornell University, these strategies: Focus on one value Routinization, Limitation, Elimination, Addition, Substitution, and Modification.

Let's take a look at each one of these clearly:

Strategy#1: Focusing On One Value:

First thing that you need to do is to prioritize and focus on a single value like health, taste, budget or anything that is most important to you. Concentrating on that one thing will make you dedicate your time, energy and resources to mastering it. Which results in you accomplishing more in less time.

Example: You choose food items with a healthy ingredient list. When you go grocery shopping, you look for brands with such ingredients, and soon, you don't have to struggle to find such healthy food items because you already know where to find them.

Strategy#2: Routinization:

Routinization is basically a process of converting knowledge into a specific routine. You know what you have to do; you make it a routine and then stick to it.

Example: You eat oatmeal or veggie salad every morning for breakfast, it is your routine and you stick to it. So, you don't have to waste your time or energy thinking about what you will be having for breakfast as you already know, and you can prepare It ahead as well.

Strategy#3: Limitation:

You know which type of food works well for you, and if something is not working well, you can restrict a certain amount of that food from your diet.

Example: Brownies are your favorite dessert,. And yes, you can have brownies! But you have made up your mind that you won't be eating more than one brownie.

Strategy#4: Elimination:

There are certain foods that you can exclude from your diet not only for your weight loss purposes but for overall health and well-being as well, just like sugary and processed food which can make certain medical conditions worse.

Example: You have a healthy diet plan, so you should keep in mind that you will not be eating processed junk and other unhealthy foods.

Strategy#5: Addition:

Just like you exclude all the unhealthy food from your diet plan, you can also include and add something that seems beneficial to your diet as well.

Example: You can have a fresh fruit as a snack between your meals or a salad before every meal.

Strategy#6: Substitution:

Sometimes it is not easy for us to eliminate our favorite foods completely from our diet routine, so the best option here is to substitute such foods with the healthy ones.

Example: You like to have pasta; you don't have to eliminate it. Simply substitute the white flour pasta with whole wheat pasta and add some vegetables to it to enhance the taste and nourishment.

Strategy#7: Modification:

You are a picky eater, so don't worry. You can make an alternative and modify your food according to your own choice. This way, you will be more satisfied with what you eat.

Example: If you don't like your egg to be fully cooked, you can have a half-boiled egg. If you don't like boiled vegetables, sautéed vegetables can also work for you.

All that matters is you eating healthy and being satisfied with what you are eating.

Final Words

These seven strategies, which we have discussed above, will not only help you make healthier food choices but also help you train your inner elephant. While saving money, time, and energy, these strategies will make you aware of your hunger and fullness cues, preventing you from trapping in your desires and needs.