Why “Just Tell Me What to Eat” Rarely Works
I often hear the phrase, “Just tell me what to eat.”
It comes up in conversations about gut health, stress, energy, and weight loss.
And I get it. I genuinely love that people want to harness the power of food. That motivation matters.
But I also know that food choices alone are just the tip of the iceberg.
What really determines success isn’t only what you eat, but whether the way you approach food is sustainable and supportive—rather than another source of stress. Not stress-free (that’s unrealistic), just less stressful.
Knowing What to Eat Isn’t the Problem
Most people I work with already know, broadly, what supports their health.
They know they feel better when they eat well.
Yet they don’t consistently follow through.
This isn’t about laziness or lack of desire. More often, it comes down to planning—or more accurately, superficial planning.
Even with a meal plan, many people can stick to it briefly, then fall back into old patterns. They talk about “getting back on track” again and again, feeling stuck, frustrated, and sometimes quietly ashamed.
I get it. I’ve been there too.
There’s also a physiological layer to this. When we’re tired, stressed, overwhelmed, or emotionally stretched, the brain defaults to what is familiar and easy. Decision-making capacity shrinks. This isn’t a personal failing—it’s how the nervous system protects energy.
Planning Is More Than a Meal Plan
What I’ve seen, both personally and clinically, is that real change happens when you focus just as much on how you’ll implement your food choices as on the food itself.
In this context, planning means asking practical, real-life questions:
When are you going to shop for food?
When will you prepare it?
How will you store or carry it so it’s actually available when you need it?
Which situations make eating well harder—busy days, fatigue, emotional stress, social events?
What can you put in place ahead of time, when you’re calm and resourced, to make decisions easier during those moments?
And one of the most important questions of all:
What is your Plan B?
If your prepped food doesn’t make it into your day—because it’s still on the kitchen bench, someone else ate it, or plans changed—what are your reliable fallback options?
Not perfect meals. Just good enough ones.
Because momentum trumps perfection every time.
It’s also worth saying this clearly: planning isn’t about control or rigidity. It’s about making the healthier choice the easier choice—especially on the days when you have less to give.
The Real Reason People Keep “Starting Over”
When planning doesn’t include preparation, troubleshooting, and flexibility, people end up restarting again and again. That cycle is exhausting—and demoralising.
The issue isn’t that food “doesn’t work.”
It’s that the way change is implemented doesn’t match real life.
When we shift the focus from rigid rules to supportive planning, food stops feeling like another thing you’re failing at—and starts becoming something that genuinely supports your health.
So if food hasn’t been sticking for you, it may be worth asking—not “What should I eat?” but
“What would make this easier to follow on my hardest days?”
And that’s where lasting change actually begins.