Healthy Huddle: Why Food Feels Harder Than It Should

We explore why food feels harder than it should and show how decision fatigue, convenience, and overstimulation push us toward comfort over nourishment. We share a simple system to reduce choices, design your environment, and make healthy eating automatic without chasing perfection.

• modern convenience and constant choices driving tired decisions
• decision fatigue leading to comfort seeking and overeating
• overstimulation making moderation feel impossible
• perception that cooking is hard versus 20-minute reality
• information overload causing confusion and paralysis
• comparison traps and the sense of being behind
• systems and routines that reduce daily food decisions
• standard meals for breakfast, lunch, snacks
• environment design beating discipline
• meal prep as a fast path to easy wins
• quick self-check to match food to feelings

Maybe you go, okay, I'm gonna make two meal prep meals this week to just to see how easy it is. Or maybe you start with one just to say, hey, I'm gonna see how easy it is to grab and go.

https://aarondegler.com/

Transcript

Welcome And Topic Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Healthy Audle. Thank you for taking time to join us today. If this is your first time, each week we join our live call as we discuss a topic that is related to our dietary intake, our nutrition, the food around us. Usually a topic that challenges us to understand the way we feel, why we want food, why we treat food certain ways. So that's typically what we uh share each week. So again, thank you for joining us, and let's join the live call. All right, so we'll get started. We'll start. Well, we're talking about why food feels harder than it should. Probably, does anybody not think about food? Everybody probably thinks about food occasionally.

SPEAKER_03 0:51

Yes, all the time.

Convenience Culture And Decision Fatigue

SPEAKER_00 0:52

All the time. And some might be not quite all the time, but quite a bit. And then some might be it think I think about it numerous times during the day. So it and it really feels just being here would say that it is a challenge. It is something you want to get better at at balancing. It's not necessarily that it goes away, but how do you balance it? How do you make it part of your life? And so really it we would probably think sometimes, why can't I just eat normal or what we say be normal? Sometimes we think, is there something messed up with my brain? Is there something wrong with me? Other people must find it easier because sometimes people don't talk about it. It's like a lot of struggles. People don't talk about the struggles, they just want to make it look like it's going okay. But then when everybody's not looking, it's a lot, it's a big struggle. Or we might think, well, I'm just not disciplined. And really, if you think about healthy eating and the and the time we're in, it's harder now than it probably ever has been in history. Because you think back in the 1800s, what'd they do? If they wanted to eat, they have to go gather the eggs from the chickens. Um if they wanted to cook it.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

They cooked it with it.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

They what?

SPEAKER_01 2:27

And they were lucky to eat.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, um uh one of my clients, they every year they have a tradition where their family gets together, some other families, and they butcher hogs and they process them all themselves. Um, they do it all themselves. Um, and it's I mean, it's quite a bit of work. Um, I think there was, I think they they butchered in two days, they butchered three hogs. Um, and I think there was maybe like 12 or 13 of them to get all done. So it's a lot of work to do that. So it's not as easy as we have it now, especially if you maybe have a membership to DoorDash. Then it's just easy. Um, you don't even have to go to the drive-thru anymore. Uh, you just order on your app and somehow it shows up to your door.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Um and so how do you how do you know about that now?

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Huh?

SPEAKER_02 3:22

How do you know about DoorDash now?

SPEAKER_00 3:25

You told me.

SPEAKER_02 3:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

But then I also but then I also saw on the TV um that they have DoorDash robots now.

SPEAKER_03 3:34

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Um, not in Bowie, of course.

SPEAKER_03 3:36

But I did the subscription. You have to pay a subscription. You do. That's why I had to Google it if I could figure out why people did it.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

You can. I mean, or you can just pay for it at a time.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

Right.

Tired Choices And Comfort Cravings

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Yeah. But now they have rob they have robots that will bring it to you. And um, I like it. I had was talking to a client today, and she actually lives two miles away from this restaurant, and yesterday she door-dashed food. Two miles in Bridgeport. Lazy. So it's lazy. So it's not even talking about, we're not even talking about traffic. It is because of convenience, pure and simple. We'll pay extra money for convenience because we don't want to take our time to go do that. So everything, I mean, that's why it's I mean, convenience is just everywhere. But then you would think sometimes, well, shouldn't healthy eating be easier? Because you could just have something door-dashed um and you wouldn't have to cook it, uh, but it's not because usually you're gonna pick the things that aren't the best options. Um, and too, like we've talked about before, every food choice, no matter if it's healthy or unhealthy, it requires some mental energy. There's a cost for it. So think about just your today so far. It's you know, five o'clock in the evening. You've probably thought about what to eat, you've probably thought about when to eat, you've probably thought about how much. Is it healthy? Is it allowed? What about later? You probably thought about those and so much more things about the food you've just eaten today. And really, there's probably hundreds of micro decisions that we make that we don't we're not even cognitive of. We just it just happens, and so we get exhausted when you use your brain, when you work your body really hard. What happens? It gets tired. When you brain work your brain really hard, it gets tired, it does the same thing. And what does your body want to do when it gets tired?

SPEAKER_02 5:40

Shut down, shut down.

Overstimulation And The Myth Of Moderation

SPEAKER_00 5:42

It wants to be comfortable, it wants convenience, it wants to kick back in the chair, take it easy. Um, your brain is the same, it defaults to I want comfort and convenience. I want something that's easy because my brain hurts too much already. So you typically are as we've mentioned, our bad choices are usually tired choices. Think about every time you made a bad food decision, it was probably because of some sort you were tired in some way. Physical, mental, emotionally, there was a tiredness related to that not so good choice. So when our brain's tired, it doesn't want nutrition, it wants relief, it wants comfort, it wants to take it easy. Um and so all of our food is really geared towards that. Um, all those best flavors, all those sugar, salt, the crunch, the melt, and then all the social media ads, and then how easy it is to get food delivered. I mean, you can literally get it from anywhere. Um so it's constantly this trying to decide: should I order food? Should I make food? Should I, where should I order it from? Should I have it DoorDash? Should I have it delivered from wherever the place is? All these things, and and what happens? It's just like overworking our body physically. It's too much for it. We have too many decisions because that's on top of the all the micro decisions you've already made today. You know, if only the micro decisions we had to make were on food, maybe we could handle it. Maybe. But we've already made other ones is um am I going too fast? Am I going too slow? Did I turn on my turn signal? Um, should I let that person go? I didn't wave at them. Oh, that person probably looked at me wrong. Oh, they're looking at my grocery cart. I wonder if I should order that on Amazon. I don't know. There's another choice. What well that looks good on TV. So, and that's just, I mean, think of all the different things that your brain's firing. Trying to make a decision, is that right? Is that wrong? Do I like it? Do I not like it? Um, all those things. Um, so uh so when it when that it's overstimulated, um, all the things that um are normal kind of feels boring. Um, we want more satisfaction. Um, what we are craving gets really loud. Um, and then when we think about moderation, we think that's just impossible. I want all of it. Um and so that can just create overstimulation. Um, you know, um how convenient is things now? We don't even have to call Pizza Hut and wait for the phone to ring 10 times before they answer. Now we go into the app and you can order exactly what you want. And if you want to deliver it, it'll tell you exactly how long before it's delivered. Or you might get DoorDash to bring it to you. But you you know, now if you have to call somewhere to order something, you're like, oh, I can't believe I have to do that. Um, I think back in the day when we had a JCPenney catalog, um, I think didn't you have to call and order?

SPEAKER_02 8:52

Yes, or you mailed it in.

From Catalogs To One‑Click: Convenience Shift

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Or you mailed it in, yeah. And there was a JCPenney store here, and they would deliver it to the JCPenney store. Um and you could get it. Um, isn't that crazy to think that we'd have to, you mean I got to call and order something? Um, everything is just, I mean, even Amazon, one click, push the button, you're ready to go. Um, most everything has a drive-thru. Um, everything you can almost get food anytime of the day. Um and and there's snacks. We can get a snack anytime. Think about back when they were going out to get their eggs or butchering their own meat or wringing their chickens' necks, all those things. It wasn't there wasn't like a just a snack available that I can go grab real quick in the middle of the night. It's so it's it's a lot different, and we're we're wired to think fastest, easiest, and tastiest. That's what I want. So, so when we say I should cook more, really our brain hears do more work. And it's like, I don't want to do any more work. I'm out, I'm I'm done. So, like when you come home from working all day, you think I should really cook more. And in the morning, you go, Okay, tonight I got it planned, I'm gonna cook. And then the day goes along and you have some stresses, some things don't go quite right, you have to make some decisions, and by about four o'clock, you go, you know what? I think we're just gonna order out because that sounds like a lot of work, and in reality, you know, on Saturday nights, Kim and I usually make burgers. And we used to go to the truck stop inside the convenience store and get burgers. It was like it got more expensive, but it was like$27,$28 for two burgers and two fries, and we just call up there, Kim would call up there and order it, and then 15 minutes go get it. And that seems so much easier. But literally, when I make the hamburgers and we put the fries in the air fryer, literally it might take 20 minutes. 20 minutes to cook the burgers and fries, and it's ready. But yet it seems like a whole process to do all that. You got to make the patties in, and usually I'll make four patties, put make two and then put two in the freezer for next time. But it seems like such a process to do it, but it really is not, it's the same amount of time, so it's not a time issue, it's just all the steps that I that go into that. You think that's a lot of work, but really prep time, cooking time, 20-25 minutes max.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

So it's and you don't have to go to town. And you don't have to go to town. You don't have to get in the car, right?

Cooking Perception Versus Reality

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Yeah. So it's just easier and faster. But yet, in our minds, just like so many times, we think all these steps to get to that. So we don't do it. And anymore, you know, um, why didn't people have why didn't necessarily people have a weight problem is because they weren't doing the snacking, they weren't doing all the fast food, it was whole foods, it was even though they're probably eating more calories, but also they were doing more. They were actually using it to fuel their energy to. I mean, I mean, back in the 1800s, the men went out and worked, and really the women cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That that was their, I mean, you know, as soon as they got done breakfast, they're going out, collecting, doing things, getting ready, preparing, and getting ready to do that. So it's not fuel anymore. It's more about stress relief, it's more about how we're gonna reward ourselves, how we're gonna comfort ourselves, how we're gonna distract ourselves, how we're gonna celebrate all those different things. So when life starts to feel heavy, what do we do? We think, well, I don't want to worry about it, I'm just gonna take the easy route. So we have again, we have information overload. So and then and then you know, then we hear all the different things that that say, you know, keto's best, plant-based only, carbs are evil. Eat intuitively. Somebody might need to mute their speaker.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Yeah, for real. I can't have a hard time hearing.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

So, really, we then have confusion, which confusion equals paralysis, and then we give up, we don't do anything. So we're like we've talked about before, too much information means less action. There's too much going into my brain, so what do I do?

SPEAKER_02 13:45

Shut down.

Food As Relief Instead Of Fuel

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Shut down. I do nothing because I have too many decisions. And so then we we we've mentioned before about how we compare from the perfect plates to the perfect bodies to the perfect routines, and then we see our messy life. Oh, it looks like our life is really messy, our food is really messy. So then we start to think, well, I'm behind. And then you're like, well, if I'm behind, it's hard to get caught up. Like sometimes it's I'm behind cleaning decluttering. I must be, I don't really feel like doing it because I'm already behind. I'm already, they're already on day 20, and I'm just starting day one. So why even start? And that's what we think because they're everybody else is so far ahead. Why should I even start? So all that's all that being said, is is why is food feeling harder than it should? All those reasons. We have a gajillion and one reasons. So we have to just simplify, simplify and have a simplif, simplified success system. We have to have a system. Think about all the things that are successful in your life. Whatever it is, do you have a system for it? If it is, if it's getting work done, is if it's getting work done at work, do you have a system to that? Do you have some notes? Do you have a to-do list? Do you have a, you know, when you receive things, you put it in the computer, you take it, you put it in a certain spot, you print them out, you mail them out. You think about in your personal life, do you have some systems that make you successful? We might call those systems habits, we might call those systems routines. But everything that is successful has a system. Typically, things don't become successful unless they have some sort of system. You don't, you know, you don't, you know, if you're investing in all that, you don't become wealthy just by, I'll just toss the money up and see where it lands. It's kind of like throwing all the pieces of a watch, you're throwing it up and hoping that it falls together in a timepiece. It doesn't happen. If you take all the pieces, kind of like a puzzle, you take all the pieces and start fitting them together, you have a system. My dad, he uh he loves puzzles. And so he has a system, and he and he'll have different little bowls and stuff all around his puzzle table. And he'll sort out all the different colors, all the different pieces. I mean, there might be 10 different bowls around his table of puzzles. But the thing is, that's how he does a puzzle every single time, whether it's a 500-piece puzzle or 2,000-piece puzzle. He does them the same way because it's his system. And and guess what? He uses his system, and guess what happens to the puzzle? It gets completed. Very interesting. And he might work on it for 30 minutes to an hour a day. Again, his system. So we have to do the same. We have to reduce decisions, is part of our system because what we already say, do we have already too many decisions? We already have a gazillion decisions. So let's reduce those decisions. I was watching a y'all know I love Sundays. It's just leaving me right now. Huh?

SPEAKER_03 17:20

With that guest guy.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Willie Geist. Yeah, Willie Geist. Yeah, it's not a life lift, but he he does a he sits down, has an interview every week. Uh and this week he sat down with Luke Combs. And Luke Combs, can anybody guess the shirt Luke Combs was wearing?

SPEAKER_03 17:38

I can, but I watched it.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

Yes, can anybody guess?

Information Overload Breeds Paralysis

SPEAKER_03 17:42

I watched it also.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

If you didn't watch it and you've seen Luke Combs before, can you guess what he was wearing?

SPEAKER_02 17:51

A button-up Western shirt.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

So it it Columbia. I mean, he's fancier than that. He's Columbia.

SPEAKER_03 18:00

Yeah, he's Columbia brand.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Yeah. He was wearing a button-up black black Columbia shirt that has the Velcro pockets. And every time you see him, whether he's in concert, he was in an he they were actually doing a live interview with Willie Guys. He was on stage. He was wearing that same shirt. Anytime you see him, he is wearing that exact same shirt. And it's not, it's probably not because he's hefty. Because Jelly Roll, he was hefty and he wore a lot of different things. Jelly Roll is not a rolling poly anymore. But but why do you think Luke Combs would do that?

SPEAKER_02 18:37

Because it takes the decision out of what to wear.

Comparison Traps And Feeling Behind

SPEAKER_00 18:41

Yeah, it takes the decision out of what to wear. And we've talked about before. Different successful people I listened to, they wear they might have 10 colours of the exact same shirt. Why? Because it reduces their decision-making fatigue. They have way more important things to make decisions about than what am I going to wear? Which I think is phenomenal because it is one less thing you does it look right? Does it match? You take all of that out. You walk out and you never have to give it another thought. Because think about what you wore maybe today. How many times did you think, is this fitting right? Does it look right? How do I feel in it? What do I think in it? What it did that person like what I was wearing? Did they not like what I was wearing? All those different things. And so if we can redo that with food, it's the same thing. So maybe it's the same breakfast. Maybe if you can eat the same meal, maybe it's the same supper. Maybe it's the same lunch. Maybe it's the same snack. That's one thing you take out. So maybe you decide on maybe three different lunches, three different dinners, your go-to snacks. So you reduce decision making instead of opening the cabinet and going, What am I gonna eat? What am I gonna fix for dinner? Goes back to our meal planning. We can look at it and if we have less thinking, we have more consistency. And then it then, if we if we're not as stimulated, because sometimes it is makes it really hard when we're overstimulated. So we we let our brain relearn from the satisfaction of not being stimulated, whether it's watching TV, whether it's scrolling, whether it's on the phone. If you think I'm gonna talk on the phone and eat, typically, are you paying attention to what you're eating? You're gonna pay attention to what you're listening to. And then it just helps build for easy wins. You know, we have our protein, our veggie, our water, all those things, and we build it for easy wins. And and do we do we focus on perfection? No. No, what do we focus on? Balance. Balance, that's right. And then then our food, you know, we try to support what do we emotionally need? Am I hungry or overwhelmed? Because how many of you, maybe when you're overwhelmed, you like to snack a little bit more? Maybe so. Maybe you're just like, I'll just get whatever. I don't care. You're overwhelmed from the day, so that really good, healthy meal you had planned to cook when you got home, now it's turns into takeout because that's just easier. And then you say, Well, I'll make a healthy choice at takeout. Um again, then you've you have all those micro decisions again. And then again, you know, it's our environment. How can we reduce those decisions? It's our environment. Things are visible, we prep once, and we make a mess once, we remove those triggers. If there's food that triggers us, we get rid of it. That and so then that design again, like we've talked about before, that environmental design beats discipline. Because why? If you don't have it there, what what do you have what can you do? You can't get it.

SPEAKER_03 22:06

Right.

Build A Simplified Success System

SPEAKER_00 22:07

And if you door dash it, it's gonna take probably at least 20, 30 minutes. So then it gives you time to rethink your decisions. So here's kind of a you know, you can kind of think about what makes food hard for me. So think about these. What makes food hard for me? Too many decisions, too tired, too tempted, too stressed, too confused, too busy? Is it one of those that maybe makes food so hard? Then you choose a solution. What could be a solution to one of those? Maybe it's you pick three options for breakfast or for lunch or for a snack, and then you repeat them. You try to reduce your decision, just like Luke Combs, wearing the same shirt. What is something that you could do to reduce that decision-making process? Or maybe it's something in your day that you make a gazillion choices about it, and you can reduce that decision so you have more mental strength for the food. Um, how how can I how can I do that? How can I make that choice? So it's really eating well isn't because we're weak. I mean, eating well isn't hard because we're weak, it's really because life is so loud with all the decisions, all the distractions, all everything going on in the background. It is just loud. So the challenge really is where can you reduce your decision-making process and make it automatic or make it way easier that you can just grab and go, or you can go. I feel ready to make the decision about supper, about lunch, about a snack. Um, so that's really the challenge is where can you reduce your decisions to make better decisions? Any thoughts, comments, or questions.

SPEAKER_03 24:03

I do love meal prep for that same reason, is all of that. Just so there's no decisions. It's in the fridge and it's time, it's time to eat. So that's what we're having.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Time to eat, time to go.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

And it and it takes a whole lot less than 15 minutes to grab it and throw it in the microwave.

SPEAKER_00 24:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:19

Handy. You reduce ready in two minutes.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

You reduce your time, your thought process, everything. It's just boom. It's easy. So maybe that maybe that's a challenge. Maybe you go, okay, I'm gonna make two meal prep meals this week to just to see how easy it is. Or maybe you start with one just to say, hey, I'm gonna see how easy it is to grab and go. So maybe that's the challenge. So if you have any thoughts, comments, or questions, just let me know. And everybody have a great evening. And thank you to each of you for joining us on Healthy Hut. I look forward to seeing you right here next time on Healthy Hub.