Decision fatigue is defined as "mental exhaustion resulting from the large number of decisions we make daily, leading to difficulty making decisions, or at least making good decisions."
Sound familiar?
Why do we, as dietitians, care about decision fatigue? Because whether you are deciding what to make for dinner, which to camp to send your kids to, or when you are actually going to have time to move your body, all decisions add up in the same way to your brain. Add to that questions like what diet you should be following, how much protein you actually need, and whether or not you should be fasting, it can start to feel like you can't stop the spinning.
All this overwhelm from too many decisions to make can not only lead to reduced self-control and impulsive choices, but can negatively affect your health by impacting adrenal function, sleep, hormone production, mental health, and blood sugar control.
So, how do we stop all that spinning?
To start, we want to you to remember that perfect is the enemy of good. Ask yourself what is the "good enough" option in this situation.
And then, we recommend identifying ways you can begin to lighten your mental load when it comes to feeding yourself and your family.
Here are a few tips that help our clients:
Keep a 'go-to' list of take-out, store-bought, or easy to assemble meals that require virtually no prep work and are easy for you to access. See our recent instagram post below for ideas.
Stock a backup supply of a few frozen meals. The Kevin's brand meals are our favorites! But this also might include meals you have prepared and frozen for busier weeks.
Plan your movement for the week. Schedule a repeating appointment with yourself to look to the week ahead and schedule your movement. Then follow through like you would any other appointment and try not to overthink it.
Keep a running list of your favorite staple foods that allow you to create quick meals - some of our favorites are eggs, greek yogurt/cottage cheese, canned tuna & salmon, frozen shrimp, chicken sausage, canned beans, frozen veggies, high protein pasta, and instant rice.
Be boring. Yes, we're all about variety and diversity, but not when it causes more stress in your life. Save the creativity for seasons of life when you have space for it. When life gets chaotic, choose just 1-3 options for each meal and run it back as often as you need to, using sauces, fresh herbs, and simple swaps for variety.
Use our favorite Meal Mapping strategy - meaning choose a theme or type of meal and assign it to a certain night each week. Mix up what that looks like as much as you want, but take the mental load of deciding what to eat on which nights off your plate. Some of our go-to's are sheet pan meals, pasta night, tacos or Mexican night, charcuterie board dinner, breakfast for dinner, bowls or salad night, and so on!