Category: Companions
The Scientist
The scientist treats their body as a subject of study, not a source of shame. They form hypotheses (“If I skip breakfast, will I feel more focused by noon?”), run experiments (try it for a week), collect data (energy, hunger, weight), and draw conclusions. Frustration assumes the body is betraying you. Curiosity assumes it’s giving you information you haven’t decoded yet. This companion explores the scientific mindset, the experimental method (observation, hypothesis, experiment, data, conclusion), sample hypotheses to test, what scientists know about N=1 experiments, and the frustration alternative. (4 min read)
The Office Celebration
Your office celebrates everything with food — there’s cake again. Deciding in the moment, every single time, means winning the same argument over and over — and you only have to lose it once. The solution: have a policy, not a decision. “I don’t eat office cake” or “once per month” or “only for people I know.” The specific policy matters less than having one. When cake appears, execute the policy. This companion covers the repeated-decision problem, possible policies, enforcing them, and the meta-lesson for all food environments. (3 min read)
The Free One
Freedom from food obsession means food takes up appropriate mental space — not zero, but not constant. Research by Wegner on ironic processes shows thought suppression backfires; obsession perpetuates the problem. The free one thinks about food when it’s time to eat, then moves on. The internal chatter — negotiations, guilt, planning, anxiety — has quieted. This companion covers what food obsession looks like, what freedom looks like, how it develops, and the paradox of letting go to gain control. (3 min read)
The Full Audit
Your food environment is speaking — through what’s visible, accessible, convenient, and automatic. Thaler and Sunstein’s choice-architecture framework holds that every element either supports your goals or undermines them; that framework comes from their book rather than from their own experiments, and the measured work behind the default effect is Johnson and Goldstein’s. A complete audit reveals dozens of small influences, but the question is identifying the single change with the most leverage. Your environment is designed by someone; if not consciously by you, then accidentally by circumstance. This companion walks through each space and identifies high-impact changes. (4 min…
The Recurring Failure
If you keep buying foods you regret, the problem isn’t self-control in the store — it’s arriving without a clear plan, in a state that compromises your decision-making. Recurring failure indicates a system problem. The fix happens at home: write the list when you’re not hungry, treat it as binding, and schedule shopping strategically. This companion explores the pattern to notice, what happens before the store, the identity question (in-store you versus at-home you), and specific implementation intentions. (4 min read)
The Menu Preview
Deciding what to eat at the restaurant — hungry, surrounded by tempting descriptions — is the hardest moment for good choices. Hungry is when the richest thing on the menu reads best, menus are designed to sell, and what the table orders moves you: eating in company is associated with eating more, though the pull runs further toward a companion eating less, which is an argument for ordering first. Preview the menu online when you’re calm and fed. Identify 1-2 options, commit mentally — a plan for what you will do rather than what you won’t — then at the…
The Cafeteria Studies
When animals are given access to a variety of highly palatable foods rather than standard chow, they massively overeat and rapidly become obese. Research by Sclafani and Rolls documented how variety and palatability drive overconsumption independent of caloric need. The modern food environment is a giant cafeteria diet experiment — endless variety, engineered palatability, and predictable results. This companion explores the original cafeteria experiments, why variety drives overconsumption (sensory-specific satiety), why palatability overrides satiety, the modern cafeteria parallels, and practical implications for simplifying your food environment. (4 min read)
The Energy Drink Habit
A typical energy drink contains 25-55 grams of sugar (more than soda) and 150-300mg of caffeine. Research on caffeine dependency shows these drinks mask underlying fatigue while creating their own problems. If you’re drinking these daily, you’re consuming substantial sugar, developing caffeine dependency, and borrowing energy from later. The energy drink isn’t giving you energy — it’s adding sugar on top of stimulants. This companion covers the audit, the sugar problem, caffeine dependency, and addressing root causes. (3 min read)
The Craftsperson
The craftsperson builds slowly, deliberately, for durability — thinking in years, not weeks. Duckworth’s work on grit describes sustained effort toward long-term goals as outperforming intensity, and the perseverance half of that is the part the wider evidence supports most firmly — grit as a distinct trait, and grit as something interventions can install, are the claims that hold up least. You’re not building a body; you’re building habits, structures, knowledge, and identity. Today’s work is one brick. This companion covers the craftsperson’s patience, what compounding actually looks like in practice, and why the slow build is the durable one.…
The Networking Event
Networking events are about connections, not food — but food is everywhere. People adjust how much they eat to match their companions — a modeling effect found in 64 of 69 experimental studies. Navigate by: eating before if hungry, positioning away from food tables, holding a drink, making deliberate food choices rather than continuous grazing. Nobody successful ever networked better because they had more appetizers. This companion covers the networking challenge, pre-event strategy, at the event, the finger food trap, drinks, and the exit strategy. (4 min read)