Learning to Make Better Choices

I can make better choices. I can learn how to make healthier choices. Every day we make decisions. Some of them are better than others. One of the keys to turning your life around is to learn to make better choices. When we consciously choose to make better decisions, we change our habit patterns. It generally takes 30 days to change a habit. No wonder it is so hard to make changes. But we can do it.

For most of my life, I have chosen to drink diet cola, eat chips and dip, and many other things that brought me to my overweight state of being. I would choose the large size at fast food places and restaurants. I was a meat and potato person, and seldom would choose fruits and vegetables. You get the picture. I do not like where those choices got me. I have to learn to make better decisions and I am.

These are some of the things I have learned.

1.  Take things one meal at a time. Watch my choices at every meal. 

2.  Develop practices that will help me make those better choices. For example, when I go to the market and buy meat, I cut the meat into portion sizes. I have a scale and weight each portion and write the amount on the freezer bag I put it in. Each freezer bag has one portion of meat. I have never been one to plan a week's menu at a time, but this also helps me in varying my diet. I do not over fix as I have in the past.

3.  Buy vegetables and fruit in smaller quantities.  Large quantities often go to waste, so while I may pay more in the long run, I am throwing less away. It takes planning and deciding what will work best for you. Today, in urban areas, grocery stores are all around us. It is a matter of finding one that you like and where you can get what you need.

4. Stock up on fruits and vegetable in that I will eat. I am not big on salads. I find most of them boring with so much lettuce. But recently, I have been purchasing cabbage and using that as a basis for my salad. I also use apples combined with chicken for a salad. I get the apples that are presliced, that way I do not have to use the whole apple if all I want is to add a half apple to my salad. I found that if I buy too much, it just goes to waste, so I try only to get what I can eat in three or four days. While it does mean that I am going to the market more often, I find that I have less food to throw away at the end of the week. It is about making choices that works for your life style.


This week, look at your choices. Did you make good choices? or do some of them need improving? Remember the way of the tortoise is slow and steady. We succeed one step at a time, one meal at a time, one day at a time.

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions. I look forward to hearing from you.