Learning to Make Conscious Food Choices

“Why did I eat SOOO much?”

Who do you know that doesn’t make conscious food choices? That asks themselves that rhetorical question a regular basis?

Maybe it’s you. Or your spouse. Or someone else you love.

For me, it was my mother. And guess what? It’s something that all of her kids, myself included, have struggled with off and on for all of our lives. 

This might also make you think in THOSE terms if you have children at home.

And then, of course, there’s WHAT we’re eating.

As I’m writing this, I’m sitting at my desk in my home office, noticing I’m hungry.

Unconscious act, I get up & find a piece of chocolate! (Truth!)

Sound familiar? That’s why I keep chocolate in the house less and less these days. 

It’s part of becoming conscious.

So after A, yes just ONE piece of chocolate. I sat back down to continue writing.

“No, I really AM hungry.” It’s lunchtime. I realize.

Conscious now, I get up & put some Ezekiel Bread in the toaster oven for a sandwich. 

So, how do we begin to make these conscious decisions?

Here are a couple of suggestions:

• Sit with yourself, in quiet solitude for 15-30 minutes after you’ve eaten.

Ask: “How do I feel?”
Is the answer energetic, aware, satisfied, and other positive things? Then it’s likely what you just ate was good for you.

Is the answer tired, sluggish, bloated, other negative things? 

Then, did you eat too much? The wrong food? Both?

Tune in.  Your body will tell you. That might be more powerful than outside sources like me, telling you WHAT to eat.

• Next step: Stop buying the foods that your body doesn’t do well with.

It doesn’t need to be an overt reaction. And maybe it’s something you can eat a small amount of. That will require fine-tuning.

Over time and with intention, you CAN develop more consciousness about what you’re eating and how much. 

That chocolate I ate? I bought it when I went to the store when I was hungry. No surprise there.

• Step 3: What about foods that are ok when we don’t overeat them; like the bag of nuts?

Can they live in your cabinet without calling out to you and making it likely that you’ll commit that unconscious act before you think? Then MAYBE you can keep small amounts in the house. Personally, I do a lot better with the nuts than I do with the chocolate! Tune in and make more deliberate choices.

Being conscious about what we’re eating is no different than being conscious about how much time we are wasting on social media, TV or a thousand other unconscious things we do every day. 

Do you have a morning routine that helps you be intentional about getting things done? 

How can you add conscious food choices to that?

Give it some thought. I’d love to hear how you’re doing.

As for me. My toast is ready & it’s time to go make a healthy lunch!