Let's Talk About Food

Good food is good! But let's be honest . . . . . . junk food is good too!

Fresh foods straight from the farm!

Food is hard! We need it to survive and yet we are held captive by the foods that are available to us where we live. I have lived in the Midwest where fresh food was abundant, but people preferred to eat fast food. I have also lived in cities where prepared food was commonly available and yet people craved farm fresh food. Seems like we always what we don't have . . . . . . . . .

First things first!

Forgive yourself for what you have eaten today and this week and earlier this month . . . . . . . . let it go. You have already eaten it and making yourself feel guilty about it now will not help at all. In fact, it will do just the opposite! You will trigger your brain to start the stress cycle and you will crave foods you know you shouldn't binge on as well as hold onto fat stores because your body will start to think it is in survival mode.

Making yourself feel guilty will not help at all! In fact, it will do just the opposite!

Moving onward and upward

Now that you have forgiven yourself for what you have already eaten let's talk about step number two. During the next week or so, write down a list of all the foods you eat. Write this down as you eat them like a diary so that you don't forget. After you have 7-10 days of food diary start grouping the foods together to see what you are eating the most. My favorite is chips -- I like all kinds of chips . . . . . . potato chips, Cheetos, Doritos, Fritos, pretzels, tortilla chips, salt and vinegar chips, pita chips (can't eat those anymore, go ahead - ask my why!!), veggie chips, and that doesn't even get into the ways I like to enjoy popcorn that comes in the chip sized bags at the gas station . . . . . . I love chips!

Ok, ok, back to you and your food choices.See what types of food you eat the most. Leave them in your diet (did you know diet just means "way you eat"?? It doesn't even mean "some fad or cult that you have to subscribe to in order to deny yourself all of life's pleasures"!) and look at things like how many veggies do you actually eat? How many fruits do you consume in a day? Are you getting in any dairy products? Where are the excess sugars and salt in your 7-10 day diary?

Diet means "way you eat", not "joining a cult to starve yourself" or "taking up a fad to deny yourself things you love"!

What are some of the small changes that you can make to your diet? Changes that you will be able to stick with are the best place to start. Try small, easy changes at first. When you get the taste of success (pun intended! hahahahahahahahaha!!) it will be easier to make those bigger changes down the road.