The Best Time to Write Your Grocery List

You’ve heard it before: If you want to shed a few pounds, you better make a plan and stick with it. But for people who are overweight and not super self-confident about their ability to meet their personal weight-loss goals, the simple act of planning could actually make things worse, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

In the study, half of the subjects were asked to plot out all of their meals and snacks for the day. Then researchers offered everyone the option of raisins, an unhealthy snack, or no snack.

Regardless of whether they planned their meals out or not, most of the average-weight people grabbed a healthy snack or no snack when tempted. Overweight subjects, though, tended to take the healthy snack or no snack only if they hadn’t planned their meals. Of the overweight planners, 85 percent picked the unhealthy snack.

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The reason: “Planning can be stressful, and talking about what you should be doing when you know you’re not currently doing it can make you upset and negatively affect your self-control,” says study coauthor Claudia Townsend, an assistant marketing professor at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.

The key, says Townsend, is staying positive throughout the process. In another experiment published in the same study, the authors found that when participants viewed images of people who were more overweight than themselves, which boosted their self-esteem, they were more likely to make a healthy choice. “If you’re feeling good about yourself and not stressed out, planning can help you meet your goals,” she says.

Your move: Write out your grocery list when you’re in a good mood—not when you’re feeling lousy about your beer belly.

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