Have you ever been watching TV and reached into a bowl or box – and hit the bottom? It’s startling to realize that we just consumed hundreds. or even thousands. of calories – and we received no enjoyment from our eating. In fact, we don’t even remember all the calories we just sent down our throat. The only way to gain any control over our eating habits is to pay attention to what we’re actually consuming and a personal food journal is the best tool, because we obviously can’t rely on memory.
A food journal is just a tool to get us to our destination. But where do we want to go? We want to become conscious eaters who are always aware of what and how much we’re eating, without struggle or effort. We can’t change our eating habits until we become aware of them. But be warned that this isn’t easy so don’t become discouraged. We’re all busy people and it’s hard to stay focused on any one effort, no matter how worthy. Just keep in mind that losing weight or improving our health is so important that the effort is worth the struggle.
If you commit to keeping a food journal, be prepared for a struggle. Just as becoming aware of your eating isn’t easy, neither is revealing your habits to yourself by writing them down. There will be days when you fail and if you know that, you will be less likely to give up. Because make not mistake, there are multiple rewards for making this effort and persisting until you succeed.
1. Have you ever been around people who insist that they “eat like a bird” – yet you see them frequently gorging on rich, heavy meals and desserts. They may not be lying when they insist that they eat very little because they may be very unaware of what they’re actually doing. You are most likely the same. If you don’t understand why you’re overweight or why your cholesterol is too high or why you feel sluggish and bloated, then examining you actual habits, rather than what you think about them, may be very revealing. It’s worth finding out, isn’t it?
2. Lots of time we eat when we’re not hungry. There are a vast number of emotional reasons to stuff something in our mouths and these flimsy reasons range from deep depression (eating to ”feel better”) to the most joyous event that, naturally, calls for a food celebration. None of us wants to confess that we are emotional eaters, but keeping a food journal may well reveal these bad habits. Once we recognize that we’re misusing food, we can learn to deal with any emotional issues in a more constructive way.
3. When you clearly see what foods you’re eating, you will absolutely be able to make small changes that add up, over time, to major alterations in your habits. Perhaps you eat a lot of fruit that is canned or frozen with lots of sugar. You can experiment with using fruits that have no sugar and add a bit of stevia for sweetener. If that change is successful, try substituting brown rice for white, whole grain bread for white and using egg whites in your baking, rather than whole eggs. Don’t even try to make huge changes in your eating habits because you are almost certain to fail. Instead, try one small change at a time. Some will be successful and pleasing and some will not but this is the best way to succeed with any major changes in life – and eating habits ARE major!
4. It is very possible to be thin – and unhealthy. Someone who is stays thin by eating very little, yet what they eat is potato chips and cokes, is certain to be missing out on important nutrients provided by food. Constipation, for example, is a sure sign of a deficiency in both fiber and water. Those who eat only “whites” – whit rice, white bread, white pasta – and certain to have a deficiency in B vitamins. Many people think that taking vitamin pills means that they can ignore nutrition and eat anything they chose but this is false. Pills won’t make up for nutrient shortages.
If you’d truly like some changes in your life, commit to keeping a food journal for just one measly week. But here’s the catch … every time you miss a meal, start over. Continue until you have truly recorded all of your food for one week. This discipline, and the information you obtain from it, will enable you to make serious changes in your life.
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