Decision Fatigue Killing Your Fat Loss Progress

Lindsay discusses the importance of not just focusing on the physical aspects such as calorie counting and macros for fat loss but also understanding the psychological challenges, particularly decision fatigue. The majority of individuals fail in their fat loss journey not because of their diet or exercise plans, but due to a lack of adherence, often resulting from decision fatigue. Lindsay encourages listeners to apply principles to simplify choices in diet and fitness routines to improve adherence and success in fat loss. Strategies such as improving sleep quality and streamlining meal choices are emphasized as key methods to reduce decision fatigue, thereby making it easier to stay on track with fitness and health goals.

Topics:

• (00:00) - 126 - Decision Fatigue Killing Your Fat Loss Progress
• (00:05) - Can decision fatigue kill your fat loss?
• (04:36) - What is decision fatigue?
• (05:29) - How Steve Jobs handled decision fatigue
• (11:33) - How bad I am at time and energy management
• (16:46) - Two things to help with decision fatigue
• (22:45) - Reducing decisions in the kitchen
• (30:09) - Reducing decisions in the gym

Creators & Guests

Host

Lindsay

Wife and mother of three. I have a deep passion for learning and teaching. I also really love lifting weights and fitness.

What is LiftingLindsay's More Than Fitness?

Dive into the joy of fitness with Lindsay and other guests exploring how it goes well and beyond the gym floor, the number on the scale, the size of your waist or the calories you're counting.

Lindsay: Welcome.

Welcome to today's Lifting Lindsay
podcast episode where we are gonna

be talking about how decision fatigue
is actually killing your fat loss.

Yes.

You heard that decision fatigue may
be the one thing that can really throw

off and hurt your fat loss goals.

Um, so.

Oftentimes when I talk about fat loss,
I really do like talking about there's,

there's two things we need to get on
point really, during any phase in,

like whether it's fat loss, phase,
maintenance builds, whatever it may be.

In your fitness and health journey,
we oftentimes fixate on what's

needed for the physical right.

A calorie deficit is needed for
fat loss., Energy balance, meaning

the calories coming in, the, the
amount of activity going out.

If that's balanced, you're going
to maintain your body weight.

If more calories are coming
in than energy going out.

You are going to put on weight.

So oftentimes we focus a lot on, okay
then what do my calories need to be?

What do my macros need to be?

What are my foods gonna look like?

What's my cardio gonna look like?

What's my training gonna look like?

We focus a lot on the physical,
which is wonderful, wonderful.

Absolutely great.

But majority of people.

Well, let me put it this way.

The easiest part of coaching
is writing the plan.

That's the easiest part.

The easiest part of for a
client is getting the plan.

That's actually not the most complex part
of it, and people treat it like it is.

Well, like they fixate on these
little tiny things within the plan.

What, what, when do I
need to get my protein in?

And studies show it actually
doesn't matter as long as

you get it during the day.

That's all.

No, no, no.

It needs to be more complex than that.

No, it actually doesn't.

What, what is my nutrition need
to look like around my workouts?

Uh, pre intra and post.

What, what does that need?

It actually, once again,
studies have shown.

For general population, population
that is not stepping on stage

for a bodybuilding competition.

It doesn't matter.

Choose the pre-workout, the post-workout
meal, whatever that you enjoy and

you can be the most consistent with.

People wanna get these things
really, they really wanna complicate.

People really wanna
complicate these things.

Because we fixate so much on,
well, if I'm not seeing results,

it's because of the plan.

I would actually say majority of the
time, majority of the time, it is nothing

to do with the actual plan itself.

It has to do with the
adherence to the plan.

The adherence to the plan comes.

Back to the mental factor,
the psychological factor.

Even when women come to me and are
like, well, I've been dieting for years.

The likelihood of you dieting for
years is actually next to zero.

You would be anorexic.

You would be near death now you
trying to diet for years, but not

mastering the mental psychological
approach or game that's going to

keep you in a calorie deficit.

That is the net more accurate statement.

So today we're going to be talking
about how decision fatigue.

Can actually harm our fat loss
goals because it influences

our ability to stay on track.

What is decision fatigue?

Well, most people don't
realize this, but on average,

every hour we have to make about
10,000 conscious decisions.

On average, that stacks up to around
35,000 conscious decisions a day.

So the other day on Instagram,
I shared in stories what, um.

The creator of, uh, apple,
what Steve Jobs did about this.

I had a few people reach out
and say, can you do a fun fact

Friday on decision fatigue?

So here I am.

That's why I'm doing this.

So Steve Jobs.

I don't know if you've ever seen
him in like speak any recordings

of him speaking, but he always
has on the same exact outfit.

I can see him right now in it, this
black shirt that and this same, pants.

He always had the exact same outfit
and he just bought tons of the exact

same shirt and every single day when
he woke up, he put the same outfit on

because he said, I have thousands of
decisions to make every single day.

And decisions take time.

They take energy.

And what I wear, I do not want to
take time or energy of thought.

I just wanna put it on.

Well, I have to laugh because my
husband took this very literally, you

guys, he literally, he found these
shirts that he loved and he literally

went out and bought like a dozen
of the, the same color white shirt.

Didn't even wanna think
about different colors.

Couldn't even think about variation.

He had the, the same
exact idea of Steve Jobs.

He loved it.

So he went out and bought a dozen
of the same white shirt, and

he wore that every single day.

And I laugh about it, but he loved it.

I have taken this concept of decision
fatigue and I've applied it to other

things in my life, including fitness.

So that's what I wanna
introduce to you guys today.

How is it hurting your goals
and what can you do about it?

Um, in fact, I actually did, when
I was researching on this, I, I

did find some quotes from a doctor
that I really, really liked, where

she talked about how all day long.

So this is the general
concept of decision fatigue.

It's the more decisions that
you have to make in the day.

As the day goes on and on, it
becomes harder and harder or more

exhausting to keep up the same
high quality decision making.

Like that's, that's the general idea.

And um, and actually in our day
and age, we have to make more

decisions than ever before.

But not only that, we have on another
layer on top of that, we have the mass

amounts of constant information coming in.

We constantly are picking up our phones
and jumping on, you know, social media.

We can pull up any
information at any time.

We just have this constant like
hookup right into like this, this

mass amount of just information being
downloaded all the time and, and

that's wonderful, but it's also not

so, I mean, think about it right now.

If you go to a store and you have to
wait in line even for two minutes,

how fast do you pull out your
phone and pull up social media?

So it's almost like our, our brain
doesn't have a ton of time where

we're having, what my husband calls
is none thoughts, just none thoughts.

You're not trying to solve life problems.

You're not, you're just
enjoying the quiet and the calm.

Of none thoughts, of just like nothing.

Right?

It's actually why I love weeding so
much, and I love working in my yard.

I don't listen to audio books.

I choose consciously make the choice,
do not listen to anything, and I'm not

even thinking a whole lot about any.

Once in a while I'll, I'll have
something that's weighing on my mind

and I'll, I'll think through it.

Last Saturday I spent probably
six hours in my yard just enjoying

being there and beautifying it.

And we don't have a ton
of time like that anymore.

Those who have discovered, um, meditation.

Understand this because meditation
is actually allowing thoughts to

come in and kind of guiding 'em out.

It's, it's learning to live in this
non-thought stage where we're sitting

there just, and, and thoughts are
gonna come in, but we show them out.

I think it's one of the greatest tools
that people can utilize, especially

in our day and age where we are
inundated constantly with information,

is we need to find that time and
space, but majority of us don't.

We don't actively look for that, and
you have to actively look for it Now.

You do.

You have to be.

You have to intentionally seek it out
because so many of us are on autopilot

where if we sit down for one second,
we pull out our phone, watch it.

Keep a close eye on how often
you are taking in information.

I'm gonna share.

This is kind of a sidetrack with you guys,
but I've actually been thinking about

how horrible I am at time management and
energy management and mental management.

Like I've been thinking about how horrible
I am at this, and the thought came to

me, um, that, you know, I always say I,
I just don't have enough time where I

spend so much time doing this or that.

But the truth is, when was the last
time I wrote and kept track of.

Everything I'm doing
every minute of the day.

You know, oftentimes people come
to me and they say, well, I'm

eating this and this and this.

How do you know?

Are you tracking it?

Well, no.

But then you don't know.

Then you actually don't know why,
because we as human beings are horrible.

We are horrible at keeping track of
these things, and the thought came to

me, I, I say that so often about food.

But we're actually really, really
horrible at time management too.

Like we make these things,
oh, I can't, I can't go to the

gym because I don't have time.

But yet you get sucked into the black
hole of TikTok and reels for two hours

or for an hour, but you don't have time.

Like really?

We are horrible at it and, and I will
be the first to tell you I am horrible

at guessing how much I do with my time.

I listen to my kids, tell me what they
do all day long and I'm like, you did

that for two minutes, not two hours.

You weren't cleaning your, my favorite
was I told my daughter, Hazel, I'm

setting the timer for 15 minutes.

Go into your room and clean
until the timer goes off.

She went in and she came out and she goes.

The timer had to have gone off.

I've been in there for a half an hour
and I, you guys, I've out died laughing.

I looked at, I looked at the clock.

Six minutes had passed.

Six minutes, okay.

I'm just like, do you know what I can
think I'm so much better than my daughter,

than my 9-year-old, but I'm actually not.

I'm horrible at guesstimating
these things too.

We just really are.

So I just kind of want to make
you a little aware of where are

we spending our mental energy.

So I actually think that decision
fatigue in our modern day is real.

Now we do have some people who say it's
not, and they're very adamant about it.

Um, I believe that with
the additional layer.

Of information constantly coming in.

That, to be honest, we choose 'cause
we're the ones who pull out our phones.

Looking at social media, have to be,
I, I have that problem, I have this,

I have to constantly be doing or
thinking or I, I'm constantly searching

out for, you know, information too.

Uh, when I get tired, I just wanna.

Pull out my phone and go through
reels and laugh at cat videos.

I'm so guilty of this too.

But decision fatigue in
my opinion is very real.

And it's interesting this doctor was
talking about how there are actual

symptoms that she is seen that
those who, , experience decision

fatigue will actually have more
experience feeling physically tired.

And even experiencing more brain fog.

Now, like I said, I do
believe it's these two layers.

I believe nowadays we are making more
decisions than ever, but on top of

that, exasperating the issue is the
fact that we're constantly taking

in information and we're not letting
ourselves have this peace and this, this

mental, none thoughts, this mental rest.

Right?

So as we go on throughout the
day and we're adding more and

more and more decisions, like,
well, am I gonna go to the gym?

When am I gonna go to the gym?

What am I going to eat?

It's another day tracking.

I'm gonna track, I'm gonna monitor,
but what am I going to eat?

Right?

It we, we layer on more and
more and more decisions.

So let's learn from.

Steve Jobs, we don't have to
wear the same outfit every day.

Right?

Pick and choose which decisions do you
want to help alleviate more, and which

maybe it's, maybe you're not gonna be
like my husband Alex, and go out and

buy this exact shirt, but how can we,
how can we take that same principle

and actually not allow it to affect.

Goals because I do believe that
decision fatigue does begin to wear,

especially at the nutrition side when
we are working towards fitness goals.

So I'm gonna share two
things that we can do.

One is we can get enough sleep because
there is a direct correlation with

our ability to make um, decisions.

And the amount of sleep
that we are getting.

So they used to say, well, seven to
eight hours of sleep is what you need.

I really appreciated recently
when a new study was done saying,

Hey, that was done on all men.

Let's do one for women.

Let's see what's optimal for women.

And they actually found it was higher.

On average, it was an hour
or two more is needed.

So it's now no longer seven and eight
for women, we're looking closer.

It could be to, you know, eight to 10.

Depending on the quality of sleep,
they even, they even said, and if

you're on your period, you might
wanna throw on one more hour.

I'm like, well, wouldn't that be great?

Sleeping?

Sleeping 11 hours a night?

That would be wonderful.

Maybe not practical, but
as much as you wanna say.

Well, I just can't get more than six
hours and sleep six hours is fine for me.

Well, not only do we have studies showing
that four in six hours actually perform

relatively similar, and they are all lower
than the performance, and I'm talking

about mental and physical of a woman
who is getting anywhere between eight

to 10 hours and immediately somebody's
gonna say, well, I can't do that.

I can't do that.

And you know, if you are breastfeeding
throughout the night, I get it.

I 100% get that.

But for the rest of y'all I am,
I'm not so sure that we cannot do

something to actively help us get
to better or get to bed sooner.

Maybe instead of sitting in bed
and looking at reels for an hour

or watching a movie or thinking,
no, I need that to put me to sleep.

Well, it actually prevents you
from sleeping deeply and we can

get an additional hour even if
you can just add, we really can.

When we step back and we look
at our schedule and we see,

oh, the reason why my kids.

Aren't getting to bed until nine or
10 is because I haven't started their

sleep schedule until around 8 39.

Or the reason why we start taking
ownership and we start looking and

realizing, do you know I can, there
are ways I can even tell my family

this is a priority for me right now.

I really need this sleep.

We, as a family, need
to change some things.

Uh, oftentimes I feel like people try
to go at these, these new changes just

alone, and they don't include their
family in the process or even their

husband or, um, significant other,
just saying like, this is what I need.

This is what I need from
you to help me, please.

We're we, no, we'll just do it on our own.

And then we get upset when nobody wants to
support us, but we never really asked them

and we never really included them, and
then we just end up building resentment

and being frustrated and blaming them.

I do think mass ownership of our
lives, we, we, we all have an

opportunity to grow in that area.

Sleep.

Uh, not only affects decision making,
but we have literally have studies

showing that those who increase
their sleep were able to one more

easily sit in a calorie deficit.

We also have studies showing that
when they sat in a calorie deficit.

Compared to others who were getting
lower sleep at the same calorie

deficit, they saw more fat loss.

Those that, that even when the,
the calorie deficit was equated,

those that got more sleep, their body
actually was able to lose more body fat.

Do not forget how.

Huge.

Sleep is the other thing.

So we have sleep.

The other thing is reducing the
amount of decisions around food.

You don't want to just try to wing it.

You don't wake up in the morning, oh,
what am I gonna have for breakfast today?

Even though you're putting it in your
tracker, no, we want to reduce that.

We have to streamline your days.

We have to make things more habitual.

I am literally convinced through
coaching hundreds of women that those

who streamline their foods and actually.

Eat relatively the same thing for
breakfast, lunch and snack a day.

More easily sit and stay in a calorie
deficit or even more easily maintain body

con composition post dieting, phase two.

So how do we do this?

Let's talk about a few this, a few.

I've, I've, I've shared this a few times.

For breakfast, lunch, and snack.

I usually have one to three options
that I just are my go-to foods.

So if you looked at what I ate last week,
in fact, sometimes people are like, you

need to show every day what you're eating.

And I'm like, I will bore you
to death because every day

I'm eating the same thing.

It's only dinner that changes.

Like that's, that's really it.

So I, I started posting
and for a week I did it.

And a week it was like, people
are like, you eat the same thing.

How do you eat the same thing?

I'll tell you how I eat the same thing.

I actually like what I eat.

That's the difference when, when
you don't like your quote unquote

diet food for breakfast, you're
not gonna have it on rotation.

You're not gonna keep it.

And I've shared this story so many times
before when I would onboard clients

and I'd say, tell me what you eat.

And they would always
say, well, in a diet.

I eat and then they tell me some food.

That honestly kind of sounded gross to
me, and I'm like, oh, do you enjoy that?

Well, it works for a diet, so you're
not going to eat that at maintenance?

Well, no.

Okay, then right there, red
flags, that's a problem.

You have not learned.

The lifestyle you're not gonna maintain.

Have you ever maintained
Well, I can lose weight.

Easy.

Yes, you're right because
you, you have grit.

You can grit yourself through those
gross breakfasts and lunch and snacks,

but you have yet to learn the lifestyle.

So if we can streamline this, it
will actually reduce decision fatigue

and you will be able to make better
decisions, especially at night.

You're usually tired at night,
and that's usually when people

start making poor decisions.

So if we can streamline this, we
can save some of that energy for

night, making better decisions.

But also if you are genuinely eating
enough for breakfast, lunch, and

snack, and you're not just ravenous
and starving yourself throughout

the day, just let me just drink a.

Protein shake, eat a protein bar,
nibble and eat like a bird all day.

And then at nighttime, wonder why I
sit and binge on all of the cookies.

It's because you haven't streamlined,
you haven't made this lifestyle.

So this is what I often tell people.

'cause a, a lot of times it's,
it's the question, well, how

do you eat the same thing?

Because I genuinely love my foods and in
my membership site I share my recipes.

And I was so excited, uh, to get
a review at just last, uh, well, I

guess it was two weeks ago when I
shared, um, this month's maze, uh, new

recipes for breakfast, lunch, snack.

And I, I, I'll also share a few
dinners So one woman said that this

has changed her family's food culture.

I was super excited about that.

Another woman said, um, this
was under one of my recipes.

She said, again, another gem.

This month these recipes
are helping me so much.

Someone who, from somebody who
doesn't even know how to cook.

Lindsay, you're amazing and a gift.

And it's just, it really is just
finding these yummy recipes.

So one, they can be on repeat
because they're actually good.

They're high protein, around
25 to 30 grams of protein.

They're nutrient dense.

They're genuinely yummy.

And so you want to put them on repeat
and then oftentimes people will say,

well, don't you get bored eating
the same exact thing every day?

Yeah, I do.

So this is why I usually have a rotation.

I usually have two to three options.

And this, this leads to the the third
that people are always like, well,

what if I wake up in the morning and
I don't want what I wrote down the

day before that I'm going to eat?

Well, that's why I have
two to three options.

Of these yummy breakfasts.

So for example, this month,
um, this has been my rotation.

One, I have my protein packed
pancakes that I absolutely love.

Absolutely they have real syrup on
it because when you know how to cook,

um, and make recipes that are high
protein, but lower calorie, then you

can include things like real syrup
instead of some gross tasting nasty.

It doesn't even taste like syrup, but
you're in a diet so you feel like you

have to, and sometimes those sugar free
options can even give you gas issues,

but you just feel like, well, I have
to eat, I have to deal with these GI

issues now because I need to lose weight.

No, you don't.

You need to learn how to cook.

You need to learn these recipes.

Um, and then I have.

Just coat 'em with strawberries that
I absolutely love and I eat it up.

I make the same exact pancakes for
my, my kids and they love them.

They have no clue how full of protein
they are, and I can cut up strawberries

and add real syrup to 'em, and
they're literally eating the same

thing that I'm eating for breakfast.

I love it.

So that has been on rotation for me.

My oatmeal has been on rotation for me.

And then, um, I also figured
out how to make, I really loved

McDonald's the sausage McGriddle.

Well, I figured out how to make one
with like 30 some grams of protein that

taste absolutely amazing, that are low
calorie, like under, um, 400 calories.

And they fill me up and I
usually put a side of fruit

with it that I absolutely love.

So that's been my rotation.

So every day I wake up and I can choose
from those that I really, really love.

And then my snack has been,
it looks like a dessert.

This is, this is one that I love so much.

I've literally been eating
it for two weeks in a row.

And likewise, those on my, uh,
community who have found this one,

they're like, this is amazing.

It tastes like I'm eating a cheesecake
for my snack, and it's high protein.

I just absolutely love it.

Um.

Lunches.

I either have leftover dinner
from the night before, so I

have some variation there.

Or on this month's rotation, there
is this amazing, amazing chicken

salad sandwich that's high protein.

I.

I tell you guys, it's the fresh
dill, the fresh dill, and the fresh

squeezed lemon on it that make
this recipe absolutely amazing.

I even had a, a woman say that her,
um, it's better than her mom's.

This is the, the chicken.

Salad sandwich that has like
the grapes in it, the celery.

And she said, this is
better than my mom's.

And my mom's has been my favorite.

And it's full of tons of
fat where this one's not.

But anyways, so the whole thing is
putting it on rotation, but you have

to genuinely love your meals, but
it will actually reduce the amount

of decisions that you have to make.

And then let's talk really quickly
around, uh, activity in the gym.

You have to make the decision.

You Sunday night look at your schedule
and say, these are the three days I

go to the gym, or these are the four
days that I go to the gym and the

decision is made the night before.

You don't have to ec
decide and don't try to.

Some people are like, well, uh,
do I really wanna go to the gym?

No, the decision has been made.

Now you are increasing decision fatigue
because you're trying to remake decisions.

That's another layer to this is that when
you decide, and you are all in, you are

a hundred percent in, did you know it's
actually way easier than being 70% in, or

60% in, because 60 or 70% in, you have to
remake the decision over and over again.

I don't know if I wanna go to the gym.

No.

The, the decision has been made.

The moment you decided that, and, and this
is another thing, your decisions should

actually line up and be about the person
that you are or the person you want to be.

The if you are like, I
am going, I am somebody.

Who goes to the gym, don't have
it about the person you were.

It's now about the person you are.

You are changing your identity.

You are now somebody who goes to
the gym three times a week or four

times a week, or five times a week.

That's just who you are.

That is your identity.

When it's your identity, the
decision is already made for you.

So that's how you know if you
are a hundred percent in it's

about identity and who you are.

If you're 60% in, it's
based off of who you were.

Well, I don't know if I, I, I
don't know if I have time for it.

No, you, you do.

This is who you are.

But if, if it's all about who you were,
then you have to make the decision

over and over and over again and that.

Is exhausting.

Okay, so hopefully this has helped.

I'm just gonna recap really fast.

We make 2000 decisions every single hour.

Let's reduce those.

We we can help in our decision making
by getting enough sleep and also by

streamlining our day, making less
decisions is what we're going for.

So if you just have on rotation,
your usual breakfast, lunch, snack,

those are all less decisions that
you have to make every single day.

When you streamline those decisions, when
they are habitual, it's just what you do.

It's just who you are.

You will not find the process of
this creating this new health and

fitness lifestyle, exhausting.

It will actually help you stay on track.

You won't be needing constant motivation
because everything is streamlined.

Okay, so this is what you're gonna do.

You're gonna have a planning day
where you show up for yourself.

I usually do this on Monday because
that's my grocery shopping day.

And what I'm gonna do is I, I write
at the top, 'cause I, I'm such a paper

person, I have to write everything out.

I usually write at the top, my, my
breakfast for the week, my lunch for

the week, and my snack for the week.

That I'm just going to eat and,
and then I write down on the

side groceries that I need.

Actually, I usually just put it in,
uh, I have the Walmart app where it

does all the grocery shopping for me,
and then it just shows up at my door

later that day to make my life easier.

So that's what I do.

And then Monday, you know,
through Sunday, I write down what

we're going to have for dinner.

And I pull up some of my favorite, uh,
recipes, um, or I, I search up new ones

from people who already have the macros
figured out, which is really, really

nice, like macro friendly foods, or
Lilly Eats and tells things like that.

Um, and then I write down about four
recipes that I'm gonna make that week.

And then I have, um, I.

Usually on Friday,
that's pizza day for us.

And then the other two are just
leftover days or they're fast meal days.

So that's what I do to just put things on
rotation, make things super, super simple.