The Joy Choice

How to Finally Achieve Lasting Changes in Eating and Exercise

By: Michelle Segar PhD

Narrated by: Jessica Rau

Learn to live a happier and healthier life with the help of this book—start changing behaviors and create new habits using fun and easy science-based solutions.

What if you could easily and joyfully resolve the in-the-moment conflicts that often derail your eating and exercise goals? Much of what we’ve been taught about creating change in eating and exercise is simplistic, outdated, and for many, misguided. Sustainable-behavior-change researcher and lifestyle coach Michelle Segar has devoted decades to the study of how to achieve lasting changes in eating and exercise and other self-care behaviors. Segar explains the surprising reasons why our eating and exercise plans so often crash when they come up against real life. She calls these conflicts “choice points,” and shows that they are the real place of power for achieving lasting changes in eating and exercise.

The Joy Choice offers a fresh brain-based solution that turns the old behavior-change paradigm on its head. This groundbreaking book liberates you from the self-defeating obligations and rigid requirements of past diet and workout regimens and reveals what emerging research suggests really drives the consistent choices that power sustainable change. Designed from cutting-edge decision science and real-world experience coaching clients, you’ll discover the easy, flexible, and three-step joy-infused decision tool that works with the chaos of daily life, guiding you to finally achieve and maintain your eating and exercise goals once and for all—and enjoy doing it!

"One of the best health books of 2022”—Washington Post

“If you want a smart, science-based, and joyful approach to sustainable behavior change, start here." ―Tom Rath, NYT bestselling author of Eat Move Sleep and StrengthsFinder 2.0

"The Joy Choice...reveals easy and fun ways to stay consistent with our health goals, while still tending to the meaningful people and demands in our lives."―Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D., NYT bestselling co-author of The Whole-Brain Child and author of The Bottom Line for Baby

"If you’re frustrated with your progress in exercising and eating right, this book is for you. Michelle Segar shifts the focus...toward a new approach to our choices that is full of humanity, imperfection, and, yes, joy.” ―Daniel H. Pink, NYT bestselling author of The Power of Regret and Drive

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Michelle Segar (P)2022 Hachette Go

Critic reviews

“Even the most committed couch potato is no match for Michelle Segar’s energy and expertise. If you don’t think working out and eating well can be fun, get ready to think again. This is an insightful and entertaining read on the science and practice of adopting healthy habits.”—Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Think Again

"She's done it again! I’ve been sharing Michelle Segar’s insights in my lectures around the world and with my patients at home since reading her first book, No Sweat. Her new book, The Joy Choice, builds on this past work with new science and deeper insights into how we can cut through the all-or-nothing thinking that accumulates over time, eventually derailing our goals. Using stories from her health coaching practice and graphics to relay this fresh thinking, The Joy Choice is a riveting and quick read. By the end, we’ve learned the know how to painlessly and playfully maintain consistency with our healthy eating and exercise goals while still living our busy lives."—John Ratey, MD, Harvard Medical School and bestselling author of Driven to Distraction and Spark

"The Joy Choice is a humane and inspiring book about how we can learn to stick with our greater eating and exercise goals. It uses cutting-edge research to explain why we shouldn’t beat ourselves up when we can’t do what we planned, and provides us with a science-based, practical framework for successful behavior change. Eloquent, informed, and wise, this is a book I’ll be telling all of my friends to read."—Ethan Kross, bestselling author of Chatter

Always Finding Ways to Pivot & Adapt

I appreciate Dr. Segar framing this entire book by distinguishing a “habiter” vs an “unhabiter” as a way of thought. With this specificity as a practitioner, trainer, fitness individual, we can be more compassionate and understanding of how we can help our network of people grow and improve within their own means of solutions. Loving the P-O-P!

Great listen!

This fantastic book has stuck with me since I read it, and I've actually been using the decision-making tools in my daily life. This book reframes making healthy choices in eating and exercise in a positive and sustainable way, not trying to overhaul your life with unachievable perfectionism, but by making choices in each moment that serve you, your goals, and your delight. Highly recommended listen.

It’s Not Your Fault

If you’ve struggled with habit change like weight loss or exercise, this book is worth it just for the message that it isn’t your fault. The author does a good job articulating how the struggle is caused by faulty thinking. The prescription for overcoming theses issues is pretty straightforward. I’m sure it would take some practice, but it seems like a reasonable way forward especially when other methods have failed.

Most Amazing Book Ever to Make Lasting Changed

The Joy Choice really helped me understand that creating habits is easy and natural for some people, but not easy for everyone. She says Habiters find making new habits easy, &
Unhabiters (those of us who struggle forming habits) are the two personality types. This book is so helpful for everyone and especially for those who struggle to make habits like me. She helps us notice Choice Points that can make all the difference in the world whether or not we can build a consistent long lasting change. She teaches what Decision Distractors are in depth and how to deal with them. She uses the acronym TRAP to help us remember what they are. T is Temptation, R is Rebellion, A is Accommodation and P is Perfectionism. She also talks about the fact we each have a Life Space that is different for each of us. We all have different responsibilities that can create conflict with our goal for long lasting change, so that is why flexibility is so important. This book helps us stop doing things like activity because we “should” and do activity because “we want to”. This is a life-changing book that I am so glad I listened to it on Audible!!
Thank you so much for writing it Michelle.

Good practical ideas for behavior change

This is book is an easy to read option for people and professionals involved in changing behaviors.

I was expecting more

While good, I guess I was expecting more based off of all the recommendations! Pretty much, in summary, the reader should just remember the acronym POP: pause, open up your options and play, and pick the Joy choice! Seems a bit simplistic for a very complex issue.

Content could've been covered in a 1 pg email.

Content could've been covered in a 1 pg email. Waste of time & money - read the summary and you got it.

Skip It

Doesn’t present any useful insights or information. I found it boring and monotonous. The only take away is the POP method. Basically, pause, look at the options, then try to make a good choice. The “Joy” Choice.