One of the best ways to eat less junk food is to make sure you don’t have any in the house.
It generally works because you make eating junk food less convenient. If you really want it, you have to work for it.
There’s an extension of the original rule: buy less of it, so it’s not lying around.
When your occasional treat turns into a regular habit, you buy more. Junk food producers are incentivized to encourage these cravings.
A small 2oz bag of Smartfood costs $2.69 at CVS. A large 6.75oz bag costs $5.19. At the time I write this, if you buy two large bags—13.5oz—the sale cost is $7.
For $7, you can buy nearly 7 small bags of Smartfood, which would have cost you $18.83. Your mind can tell you that you just saved yourself around $11 dollars!
So in addition to more Smartfood, you also get the thrill of getting a good deal.
One small 2oz bag of Smartfood would have been fine. But if you buy the two big ones, now you’ve got the equivalent to seven small bags.
There’s no way you can eat it all in one sitting. Even if you shared it with three other people, each person would need to eat more than one bag. (Which is also good marketing for Smartfood!) So it’s likely there’ll be some extra Smartfood lying around.
And the day after you buy it, you remember, “Oh yeah, I have some Smartfood!” and you go to the kitchen and help yourself. And you strengthen your Smartfood habit.
While it might look good on paper, this is not a good deal for your health in the long run. You would probably be better off eating some almonds, fruits, or vegetables—which you should buy plenty of and leave around the house, all the time.
The shift in heuristic and behavior is to prioritize your health over your wallet.
Buy one small bag of junk food. Buy one can of soda, not a four or six-pack. (No, not the 12!)
Buy one month of your favorite streaming service, then cancel it right away.
The next time you get a craving, you’ll need to walk or drive over to the store, and you’ll have the whole time to decide if it’s worth it or not.
Most of the time, it’s not. When you want a snack, you’ll walk over to the fridge, slice up a cucumber, scoop out some hummus, and feel great after.