By rules I mean basically habits or categories of things you try to do or not do, that sort of fade into the background as the default way you do things. I think most people have these around food just for cultural reasons—for example, most Americans think of scrambled eggs and waffles as breakfast foods, and if they eat them at lunch they’ll call it “brunch” or at dinner they’ll call it “breakfast for dinner”. So it’s not so much a hard and fast rule, as it is “this is how I normally behave and I don’t usually deviate from it unless there’s a specific reason.”

It also shouldn’t be something that takes a ton of effort to maintain—maybe it takes some getting used to at first but it shouldn’t feel like you’re exerting a lot of willpower every time you make this choice. It should become the default choice.

I noticed this lately with two friends who have been thin the whole time I’ve known them and never mentioned struggling with weight.

I gave one of them some rice because I bought way too much at Costco and he said “I don’t usually keep white rice around, because I usually eat brown rice, but I’ve been meaning to start”

Another person, when we were talking about regional snack foods and I mentioned a brand of chips, said “I don’t usually let myself go down the chip aisle at the store, unless I’m buying them for a party or something.”

Examples I’ve heard of that help people:

  • don’t eat snacks if it’s not a meal time, or if you have a meal coming up in the next couple hours (“you’ll spoil your appetite”)
  • the kitchen is closed at a certain hour — i.e. don’t go in there after 8pm or whatever, just get ready for bed

For me personally, I never fry anything with oil at home, it’s also messy so there’s that advantage too, but even when I cook a lot I will sauté things with a measured amount of oil but I won’t deep fry or shallow fry them.

I also try not to order food for delivery unless there’s something exceptional going on like I’m sick. If I want takeout I have to walk to get it. That often means I end up finding something to eat at home to save the effort.

And I don’t keep white sugar at home.

What are some habits, rules or default choices that help you, or people you know?