Is it just laziness? Lack of planning – causing runs to the vending machines through the day? Unpolished and unpracticed carb counting by eyeball? Falling victim to the clever marketing schemes that have me addicted to things like Diet Coke & Peanut M&M’s? Combination of these things? Who knows.
What I do know is that packaged food is usually very easy to bolus for. There is little to no thought involved. You have the package, with the number of servings per package, and amount of carbs per serving. It’s still math, unless the servings per package is 1. At least it’s usually simple addition, none of that “fancy” division or multiplication. Have I mentioned I don’t like math?
The nutritional content of these packaged food is generally very poor, and it’s often even more expensive than buying a bigger package of the same thing at the grocery store! But I’m buying convenience right? And while that convenience is easy to bolus for, I don’t think it’s worth the negative trade offs – such as the nutritional content of a pack of pretzels and peanut M&M’s for lunch… which are pretty responsible choices given the other things to pick from!
Not to mention feeling satisfied with what I’ve eaten. This rarely ever happens with junk food. In fact, I think that it is designed to make you crave more – I mean, can you really ever eat just one piece of something treaty?
I think that in my case, it boils down to lack of planning, and not prioritizing that planning into my day. If I bring my lunches and snacks, I will eat those, and be satisfied with them. And I will in fact feel good about eating good stuff, rather than junk. But I often let life get in the way, and that planning and prioritizing self-care take a back seat.
The thing is, life is really not that busy – I just make it seem that way…