Let’s talk about your free time these days. If you’re like most people, I’m guessing you’re all, “What’s that?”
Most of us feel incredibly stretched thin in our personal and professional lives so the idea of “finding time” to add stuff like exercise or eating better creates more stress.
And I know this time of year, not making headway with food and exercise goals can feel extra frustrating so I want to offer you a tool you can begin implementing right this second that’s going to reduce stress and help you find loads of time you were once just wasting.
Have you heard of “chunking?”
Chunking is simply organizing a set of tasks by location, time, or by another common ground. It’s most commonly discussed as a productivity tool because it’s dedicated to reducing the amount of time lost through transitions and interruptions.
I love chunking as a way to learn new food habits because chunking is famous for MAXIMIZING FOCUS!!
If there is one thing that people mismanage for habit change it’s spreading their focus THIN.
By design, chunking breaks down big tasks into small bite sized pieces that more easily lead to consistent action.
Chunking your TIME:
For fat loss I recommend all my Diet Rebellion folks and Sweat fam to spend 12 hours fueled and 12 hours fasted.
In other words if you eat dinner at about 7:30pm then you will want to eat breakfast roughly 12 hours after that, 7:30 a.m. All other meals, however many you want/need to eat, fit inside of that window of time.
For example:
- Break down the 12 hours fueled by 4 chunks (could be 3 or could be 6… you know your day better than me!)
- 7:30- 10:30
- 10:30- 1:30
- 1:30- 4:30
- 4:30- 7:30
- Take A.I.M. (Ask, Identify, Manage) one chunk at a time.
- Ask: What is required of me between those specific hours?
- Identify: Where will I be? Who will I be with? What specific constraints may I encounter? As it stands, can my breakfast alone see me through until my next chunk of time, etc…
- Manage: Based on your answers and your EXPERIENCE to the questions above you respond accordingly.
Identifying patterns and problems:
The most common chunk of time I see identified as an issue is chunk 3… 1:30-4:30. This chunk of time is often when I see folks try to “make it til dinner” which sets them up for one giant binge eating session or one large continuous meal from 4:30-7:30pm.
The calorie overload is huge at the end of the day.
If you can identify this pattern then:
- Are you taking A.I.M on this specific time frame? In other words, permission to spend EXTRA FOCUS on the problem. Your whole day may not need your attention!!! Hone in and put all your problem solving energy in ONE place.
or
- Are you reflecting on what’s happening or not happening in chunk 1 and 2? Are you implementing tons of will power early in the day? Are you under eating and ending up crazy hungry? Maybe chunk 3 is a problem because chunk 1 and 2 aren’t setting you up for success.
One of the things I love when introducing this strategy is that a “bad” food decision or a decision that goes against your intention or goal is isolated within a specific time frame.
You are less likely to feel like you “might as well throw in the towel” for the day because of a misstep. Your next chunk of time is a win in and of itself… just like your mistake is a totally manageable complication that can get handled and practiced and perfected the next day.
The Outcome:
Let’s get one thing straight.
YOU are not the problem.
YOU do not lack motivation.
YOU are not weak.
Habit change is about STRATEGY!!! How do you get yourself to do the thing you know you have to do??
Outcomes are about tapping into our psychology, finding the path of least resistance, and organizing our plan of attack into something we can manage vs something that manages us.
I’ll be sending extra details on chunking to my Sweat Unfiltered crew tomorrow. If you want in, join the list right here: