I celebrated my half birthday last week — 53 and a half, (highly recommend celebrating half birthdays by the way).
I spent the day baking.
A spiced apple cake with brown butter frosting.
Cookies for school lunches.
The works.
And here’s the thing that still blows my mind: I did all of that baking, with all that raw dough and frosting within arm’s reach, and I didn’t end up feeling sick or out of control.
I had exactly what I intended to have.
I followed through on my plan.
Baking should be one of life’s simple joys. But for so many of us, it’s fraught.
This tiny habit changes that.
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Video Version
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Why This Habit?
Most of us eat sugar on autopilot. We start baking and just keep tasting. We open the chocolate and suddenly it’s gone.
We’re not making a choice — we’re just reacting.
The problem isn’t willpower.
It’s which part of your brain is running the show.
The Tiny Habit: Set an Intention Before You Start
Before you interact with sugar — before you start baking, before you sit down to eat cake, before you open the chocolate — pause and ask yourself:
“How do I want this to go?”
Then actually decide. Not vaguely. Specifically.
Before I made the birthday cake, I decided: one taste of the raw mixture, no tasting the frosting, one piece of cake at dinner.
Before I made the cookies, I decided: one taste of the dough, just one. And that’s what happened.
It works for alcohol too. Same principle.
How This Powerful Habit Works
You have two parts of your brain making food decisions:
The prefrontal cortex — your most evolved brain, capable of weighing future consequences. It knows sugar is delicious and that eating too much makes you feel awful.
The amygdala — your primitive brain, which just sees sugar and says more, please. No thought for how you’ll feel later.
When you eat on autopilot, the amygdala is driving. When you pause and set an intention before you start, you put the prefrontal cortex in charge. You’re using the best part of your brain to make food choices.
It sounds almost too simple. But I’ve taught this to so many people in the Naturally Healthy Club and they say the same thing: “I can bake again without freaking out.”
That’s the gift of being intentional and building self-trust.
2 Biggest Mistakes
1. Expecting perfection
There will still be times you overdo it — even with this habit. I still occasionally forget to set a firm intention and end up overeating.
That’s not failure. That’s information. When it happens, get curious instead of self-critical: what was I feeling? what was going on?
There’s always something to learn.
2. Letting your environment work against you
If you have a long, complicated history with sugar, don’t make it harder on yourself than it needs to be. A candy jar on the kitchen counter? Probably not your best move right now. A family-size block of chocolate sitting open on the bench? Same story.
Engineering your environment isn’t weakness — it’s smart strategy. Put the candy in a cupboard and serve yourself before you start eating.
Buy the amount of chocolate you actually want, not the giant block. As you build your self-trust muscle, these boundaries can shift. But starting with a supportive environment makes all the difference.
How to Apply This Strategy
(Your Weekly Home Play)
This week, I invite you to experiment with building self-trust around sugar — or whatever your thing is (chips? chardonnay? cheese?).
Here’s what to do:
1. Plan a treat. Decide in advance that you’re going to have something sweet, bake something, or enjoy your snack of choice.
2. Set your intention before you start. Ask yourself: how do I want this to go? Decide specifically how much you’re going to have.
Do the experiment. Enjoy it fully. Then notice what happens.
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s just to try it and see.
Have a delicious week!
In your corner
Jules xx
(Your favourite Australian Food Scientist)
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