It may not be immediate intuitive, but your food environment can be a huge help (or not so much) for your meal planning and food decision making process.
I like to lump this into our philosophy of ‘Design Thinking’ and ‘Systems Design’ as it relates to habits and an environment that supports (ahem… or not so much) our nourishment patterns.
And welcome to the scene WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get).
The basic premise here is to do a fresh assessment of your kitchen, food pantry, and anywhere you stash beverage and food items. Then make various improvements that ultimately better support your nutrition goals.
First of all, are you aware of your kitchen inventory of food and beverage items? (the “What the heck is this way back here in the pantry?” process)
How are these items organized, if at all? (the “Why are there canned beans on 3 different shelves in the pantry?” and “I didn’t realize we had 4 jars of Dijon mustard.” process)
Do you have a system to making the foods you need/want to “focus on” more visible, accessible, and easy to choose before the other ‘extras’? (the “Why are the veggies buried way behind this 12-pack of beer?)
Do you need other containers to better store and preserve certain foods so that you have efficient ‘grab and go’? Would it help to prepare these foods in advance so they are easier to eat? (the “Oh wow, that was so easy to choose this cheese stick, veggies & hummus” process)
In this discovery process of your food environment, you not only learn WHAT is in the kitchen, but you also have the opportunity to redesign the WHERE & HOW for prioritizing access to the items that better support your health goals. Seeing the yogurt and berries before the leftover pizza helps stimulate the visual system, which in turn reinforces the decision making pattern for improvements in food choices, in most situations.
The other benefit of all of this is potentially reducing food waste, a massive problem right now for our environment.
So, this is a friendly vote for carving out some time for your Food Enviro WYSIWYG project. Let me know how it goes and don’t forget some before and after photos to show off your new system. Remember, your systems are fundamental to achieving the goals you seek.
Thanks for reading,
-Dina