Shopping and habits

Estimating portions 

... is hard. It's time to go back to weighing things.

Like lunch. "about 150-200g" of stew was actually 350g or so.

One real trap I have is I LOVE the idea of seconds. And if you've had seconds, then thirds is even better.

I need to put things away when I'm done dishing up. And, ask Alexa for a 20 min timer. If I'm still hungry in 20 min, then I should go for it. But maybe I'm just bored or habituated. Who'd have thought?!

Psychology of shopping


  • Go in the morning - decision fatigue kicks in later. The quality of my decisions drops as the day progresses and I get more tired.
  • Shop from a list - decisions are made and there's less room for me to wing it. The psychology of lockdown shopping proved that. When you're in and out and don't want to spend any more time than necessary in the supermarket, you make better decisions and shop to the list. 
  • Go with your spouse - hmm. I think we wind each other up and buy more things. We buy treats for each other - at least, I buy her the latest vege trend that she never eats, and she buys me wine that I definitely do drink.
  • Avoid the crowds - definitely, just for sanity! But, according to smart folks, you're more susceptible to marketing messages in a crowded supermarket. Peer pressure? Maybe more, a higher stress environment degrades your decision making skill.

Changing habits


Don't forget the habit cycle

Trigger - Thought - Action - Consequence

A glass of wine after work.
A second couple of bits of chicken schnitzel after dinner.

COVID means our habits and routines have been broken. Twice now. "The Creature of Habit Crisis".

When everything feels uncertain and up in the air, routines ground us and make us feel more like ourselves - even when they're "bad" routines.



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