Overheard in the gym recently “I buy bread for my kids sandwiches and so there it is on the counter. I mean–how do I not eat the bread?”
I felt for this woman. I really did. She thought her only choice was to eat the bread because it was there and she didn’t possibly have any other option but to give in to her cravings.
Let me stop right here and remind you yes–anything can be on your plan. No food is off limits when working with me. If you want bread to be part of your plan, we can make that happen.
But for this woman–bread was clearly not something she was planning to eat. It was just there basically happening to her. Like she didn’t have any control over the bread going in her mouth.
We all feel like this sometimes. We aren’t planning to eat something, or we plan to “just have a little” and half an hour later we look back and realize it’s all gone. We ate all the things. Why does it seem like eating is sometimes out of our control?
Of course we know that it isn’t, cognitively. When we step back and really think about it, we know that it takes our hands reaching out and then putting that thing in our mouth. You don’t just accidentally fall, land on a sandwich and have it by chance go in your mouth. We actually do make the choice to eat. But sometimes we do this a little bit subconsciously. We just keep putting food in our mouths without thinking too much about it. That is a problem.
So there is the key–staying conscious around food. Really thinking about what we are eating, when we are eating it. Here are my top 3 tips for staying conscious around food.
- PLAN AHEAD: When we aren’t planning ahead what we will eat and eating only that, it feels like food is out of our control. “Well I don’t know what to eat so I guess I’ll have to just eat this bread!” Planning our food 24 hours in advance can really help us stay conscious of what we are eating. You make the choice ahead of time and so you actually get to think less about food in the moment because the tough decisions are already made. Now you just get to enjoy the food that you planned. So much less stressful than to trying to come up with something that fits your plan in the moment you are hungry.
- EAT UNDISTRACTED: Another way to stay conscious around food is to eat undistracted. This means cheeks in the chair, no phone, no tv. Eat sitting down without distractions so you can really enjoy your food. So you can really pay attention to what it is you are eating and not pay attention to the youtube video you are watching and then suddenly look down and all the food is gone. It’s really disappointing to your brain to realize that there won’t be any more food going in when it didn’t even get to notice or enjoy the food that already went in! Have you ever finished a meal while watching something and then thought “I still need a little more something-something!” You aren’t satisfied because you didn’t pay any attention to what you were eating! When you take a step back and realize you aren’t actually still hungry you will know that’s just a craving for something in your mouth (read: your tastebuds), not for real sustenance.
- TAKE YOUR TIME: Lastly, s l o w d o w n. . . Another way to stay super conscious is to take twice as long to eat. Really savor each bite. Think about the flavors. Enjoy the company you are with if you are eating with friends or family. Put your fork down and talk or listen for a bit. Take some time for your food to settle in and let your brain know that things are filling up down here in the stomach! No need for any more food!
When we can stay conscious with our food, we will no longer be at the mercy of every piece of bread, bag of chips, or box of cereal we have in the house! I’ll have more in depth posts on each of these concepts coming soon!
P.S. Yes this is a photo of sourdough sandwich bread I make for my kiddos lunches. I enjoy a slice or two from each batch, usually toasted with my eggs! Mostly I skip eating it because it’s a lot of work to make and I don’t want to have to make it more often than necessary to keep enough in the house for all the school bound children! If you are local and want a sourdough start–let me know!
