Environmental Control - The Eating Well Podcast

The Eating Well Podcast #005 on Environmental Control for Wednesday October 19th 2005

Today’s show topic is Environmental control, We’ve mentioned it a lot in previous shows. Now we really break it down and talk about it.

• What is EC? – The obligatory question

• Environment means the area around you. Itextends from your body out to where ever you need it to.
• Your home, car, jobsite or office, restaurants you may visit
• Any place you go or plan to be is considered your environment

There are two types of environmental control: Additive and Subtractive

Either your bringing things into your environment because you want to their influence, or you’re removing things from your environment because you don’t want their influence.

Environmental Control is a behavior modification tool, that you can use to help yourself make better decisions, and change or encourage or discourage a particular behavior.

That behavior can be anything from eating things from vending machines to getting exercise to what time you eat, the list is really limited by your own creativity because environmental control is a tool. Once you learn how to wield it you’ll find all sorts of uses for it.

Environmental control can have a tremendous impact on your ability to eat a healthy nutritious diet and lead a more active lifestyle.

There are a great number of choices you can influence in each enviornment where adding something to them or removing something from them would help you make a better choice.

Adding things to your environment to yield positive nutrtion choices:

• have a large bowl of fresh fruit, already washed available at all times
• cut up fruit salad and grab & go veggies in the fridge
• frozen & canned fruits & veggies in stock
• easy to prepare and/or cook lean meats (sliced turkey, frozen chicken tenders, veggie burgers)
• keep low-calorie/sodium canned f/v’s in your office
• keep water bottle with you at all times
• keep whole grain snacks in your car & office (crackers, nuts, seeds)

Adding things to your environment to yield other positive health choices:

• keep an extra pair of tennis or walking shoes under your desk to walk during breaks
• keep a stocked gym bag in your trunk (clean clothes, water bottle, shoes)
• carry a small journal with you at all time to track progress
• schedule yourself into your day, ie exercise from 2-2:30 pm

Subtracting foods from your environment:

• do not keep your favorites on hand AT ALL, especially not in bulk (ie Ice cream, chips, cookies, nuts, bread)
• brown bag the cheeses (or any other goodie in the fridge) to “hide” it, out of sight, out of mind
• have a separate cupboard in the kitchen for your healthy options so that it won’t be necessary to move a tempting junkfood out of your way to reach the healthy option that you are reaching for
• if you love ice cream, go out for it & enjoy a scoop, do not bring any home. Plan for the calories, decide what you are going to have, exactly, how big or small it will be and all the details, BEFORE you go.

Subtractive environmental control might include removing yourself:

• it is ok to decline an invitation to an event if you know that you will not maintain self-control or end up 5 lbs heavier
• Go to the event, but be sure to eat first.
• Have tea or water w/lemon & let your company know that you really wanted to be there but won’t be eating with them, “I’m not feeling well”
• socialize w/others just until the food arrives, then excuse yourself, return in 10 m