Why Healthy Choices Become Harder When We Need Them Most

First published in the Twizel Update, September 2026.

Most of us have probably experienced it. We are tired, stressed, run-down or coming down with something, and suddenly the habits that normally support us are the first things to disappear. We don’t feel like cooking, exercise seems too hard, and whatever is easiest or most comforting becomes much more appealing.

It can be easy to put this down to a lack of discipline. We know what would probably make us feel better, so why don’t we just do it?

But I’ve been thinking about this differently lately. What if the physical state we are in actually changes our capacity to make the choices we know are good for us?

When our physical health slips, our capacity to make good choices often slips with it.

I find the connection between our physical and mental wellbeing fascinating. We often talk about mental wellbeing as though it happens entirely in our minds, while physical health belongs somewhere else. In reality, the two are constantly interacting.

One particularly interesting example is the gut-brain axis. Our gut and brain are in continuous two-way communication through a complex network involving our nervous, immune and hormonal systems. The trillions of microorganisms living in our digestive tract are part of this conversation too.

And this is where food becomes particularly interesting.

Some of the fibres we eat aren’t completely broken down by our own digestive enzymes. Instead, they reach the large intestine, where certain gut microbes ferment them. In doing so, they produce substances called short-chain fatty acids, including acetate, propionate and butyrate.

These tiny compounds do considerably more than stay in our gut. They help support the intestinal lining and are involved in regulating immune and inflammatory responses. They also form part of the complex network of communication between the gut and the brain.

This is one of the things I find so fascinating about nutrition. Something as ordinary as eating fibre can help our gut microbes produce substances that influence processes throughout the body. Food doesn’t simply pass through us. It becomes part of an extraordinarily complex biological conversation.

The science of the gut microbiome is still developing, and we are still learning how it influences the brain and our mental wellbeing. But what has become increasingly clear is that our gut and brain don’t operate as separate systems.

One way of supporting this microbial community is through variety. Different plant foods provide different types of fibres and plant compounds, creating food for a wider range of microbes. A more diverse microbial community is generally associated with greater resilience - a better ability to cope with disturbances and recover when conditions change.

One particularly interesting finding came from the American Gut Project, which looked at the eating habits and gut microbiomes of thousands of people. Those who reported eating more than 30 different types of plant foods each week tended to have a more diverse gut microbiome than those eating fewer than 10.

Thirty isn’t a magic number, but it offers a useful way of thinking about gut health: variety matters.

And thirty plants may be less daunting than it sounds. Vegetables and fruit count, but so do legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. Instead of concentrating on one supposedly perfect “superfood”, we can simply look for opportunities to add variety - a handful of mixed seeds at breakfast, some herbs with dinner, lentils added to a soup or a different vegetable in the shopping basket.

Fermented foods such as natural yoghurt, kefir and sauerkraut can also be useful additions for people who tolerate them. And of course, we aren’t simply feeding a microbiome. Protein, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, hydration and sufficient energy all matter to the human being hosting it.

None of this means that eating thirty plants a week will make us happy, or that mental-health problems can simply be solved through better gut health. Human health is far more complex than that. Sleep, hormones, stress, relationships, genetics, movement, illness and our circumstances all matter too.

But it does mean that looking after our mental wellbeing can include looking after the body in which our mind lives.

And this brings me back to those times when healthy choices seem hardest.

When we are feeling well, we have more capacity to cook the soup and freeze half of it, stock the fridge with useful basics, prepare leftovers for tomorrow or establish routines that require less thought. Then, when we are exhausted, stressed or unwell, we don’t have to rely quite so heavily on willpower.

Maybe we need to prepare not only for the motivated version of ourselves, but also for the version who won’t feel like making the healthy choice.

This applies beyond food. Five minutes of movement might feel achievable when a full workout doesn’t. Going to bed a little earlier might be more realistic than trying to overhaul our entire sleep routine. Small supportive choices can help us maintain some of our foundations when our capacity is low.

There is a feedback loop here that I think is worth noticing. When we feel physically depleted, healthy choices can become harder. When those habits begin disappearing, we may remove some of the very things that normally help support us.

The answer isn’t to judge ourselves more harshly.

It may be to make health easier.

Maybe one of the most useful things we can do while we are feeling well is establish healthy habits and create an environment that makes them easier to maintain when we’re not. Keep nourishing food within easy reach. Build movement into ordinary life. Protect sleep where we can. Look after our gut. And notice what helps our own body function well.

Because the choices we make affect how we feel - but how we feel can also affect the choices we are able to make.

And sometimes understanding that is far more useful than simply telling ourselves to try harder.

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Thank you for reading

I hope this article has given you something to think about.

If you'd like to continue exploring, you'll find more reflections in the Articles collection. And if you're curious about the way I work as an Integrative Health Coach, you're warmly invited to explore the rest of my website.