{"id":170668,"date":"2022-04-25T10:54:48","date_gmt":"2022-04-25T15:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=170668"},"modified":"2026-09-09T18:01:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T23:01:14","slug":"overcome-the-decision-traps-around-diet-and-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/overcome-the-decision-traps-around-diet-and-exercise\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #797: Overcome the Decision Traps Around Diet and Exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to making behavior change around diet and exercise, it&#8217;s no secret that many people fail in their efforts. My guest would say that&#8217;s because too often we only concentrate on the things that drive us towards that change \u2014 whether willpower, or motivation, or the rewards that turn behaviors into habits \u2014 and that we need to think more about the obstacles keeping us from making the decisions we desire.<\/p>\n<p>Her name is Michelle Segar and she&#8217;s a behavioral science researcher and health coach, as well as the author of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3MtTcX7\"><em>The Joy Choice: How to Finally Achieve Lasting Changes in Eating and Exercise<\/em><\/a>. Today on the show, Michelle explains why exercise and eating aren&#8217;t conducive to becoming habits \u2014 at least of the automatic variety \u2014 and why it&#8217;s more helpful to think of these behaviors in terms of &#8220;life space&#8221; and &#8220;choice points.&#8221; She makes the case for why we shouldn&#8217;t just focus on what drives behaviors, but also understand what disrupts them, and unpacks four of these disruptors: temptation, rebellion, accommodation, and perfection. Michelle then offers a three-step decision tool for dealing with these disruptors, and explains how to develop the flexibility to choose the perfect imperfect option that keeps you consistent and even celebrate and enjoy the decision to do something instead of nothing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to making behavior change around diet and exercise, it&#8217;s no secret that many people fail in their efforts. My guest would say that&#8217;s because too often we only concentrate on the things that drive us towards that change \u2014 whether willpower, or motivation, or the rewards that turn behaviors into habits \u2014 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":194921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[502,156,42388],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-170668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character","category-podcast","category-self-improvement"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/797-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/797-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/797-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/797-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/797-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.4 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Podcast #797: Overcome the Decision Traps Around Diet and Exercise | The Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/overcome-the-decision-traps-around-diet-and-exercise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcast #797: Overcome the Decision Traps Around Diet and Exercise | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When it comes to making behavior change around diet and exercise, it&#8217;s no secret that many people fail in their efforts. My guest would say that&#8217;s because too often we only concentrate on the things that drive us towards that change \u2014 whether willpower, or motivation, or the rewards that turn behaviors into habits \u2014 [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/overcome-the-decision-traps-around-diet-and-exercise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-25T15:54:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-09T23:01:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/797.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" 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