What is "Make the Better Choice"?

Every day, we face numerous choices.  When to wake up, what to wear, how long to shower, how early to leave for work, what to eat are just some of the many choices we encounter. Several years ago, while I was doing Weight Watchers, I began to think about the notion of making choices as it applied to eating. 

I am an all or nothing thinker.  If the choice I make is not perfect, I instead throw in the towel, which has led to lots of extreme thinking, extreme eating, and extreme weight fluctuations. As a psychologist--as a human--I understand that people don't routinely choose perfectly.  Rather, we consider our options and make choices accordingly. 

Thinking about all of this led me to coin the phrase "Make the Better Choice."  I decided to start thinking about my eating not in terms of perfect choices, but rather instead of better choices.  Sometimes, the better choice is a salad, but on other occasions, perhaps it is something different.  Perhaps you choose the low fat mayonnaise or decide not to go with it all.  Perhaps you choose to eat one burger instead of two.  Perhaps you forgo the appetizer and the dessert.  There are many ways in which we can make wiser choices with our eating.  The more often we make those better choices, the better long term outcomes for our health. 

Perhaps more than anything, maintaining the mantra "Make the Better Choice" allows you to be more mindful about how you choose to eat.  Greater awareness is definitely an asset to healthy eating. 

After conceptualizing of this idea, I began to post a daily thread on the Weight Watchers "Guys on a Diet" message board.  It quickly became a popular daily thread as people would share their successes.  Later, we got together a group of people who ordered green bracelets reading "Make the Better Choice" on them.  They were very popular as they served as a daily reminder of the importance of making wise choices.

I also soon realized that the MTBC concept applied not just to eating, but to many other areas as well.  Parents were ordering them for their teens, encouraging them to use the phrase to help them make better choices as well. 

I have made use of this phrase for a long time.  I think it can be beneficial in many areas of your life. Won't you join me on the journey?

Make a new trail

It's easier to stay out than get out.--Mark Twain

Behavior change is often a difficult thing. We have been following the same path for so long that we wear deep ruts in the paths of our lives. The deeper the ruts become, the harder it is to steer out of them. Our natural tendency is to stay in the rut. It takes a forceful and deliberate decision to steer out of them. But we are not in the clear. The ruts are still there and it is so easy to fall back into them.  It takes daily, intentional choices to stay on the new path.

In my own life, I have seen several areas where the ruts have been worn deep. Pornography was a very deep, dark rut for a long time. I found it nearly impossible to overcome the temptation to look at porn. Looking at porn became my normal.  Through prayer, being accountable to good friends, and the grace of God, I am on a new path, though I admit I still feel the wheels wanting to fall back in from time to time.  Anger toward my kids is another area where there are deep tracks.  In the past couple of years, I have begun to find a new way, but my default setting has been anger.  I have learned that I respond much better when I slow down before I respond to my kids' misbehavior. I am following a different trail.  Finally, poor eating has been a well-worn trail.  Many times over the years, I have fallen back into those deep ruts. I am again on a different trail but it is new for me again.

Making a new way is often difficult. We may need to steer out again and again, but the more often we do so, the easier it becomes. 

The righteous falls seven times and rises again.-Proverbs 24:16

Make the better choice.