On the surface, it seems like planning and mindful eating don’t necessarily go together. When you eat mindfully, you’re paying attention to what your body is telling you in the moment, so how can you plan for that? The key is to think about options. You don’t have to plan everything you’re going to eat, or when, but it can help to have a rough idea. Once you start paying attention to your eating patterns, you’ll likely notice that certain amounts and types of foods fill you up more than others, and carry you longer. Knowing that helps you prepare. And since I just got back from a conference, I thought I’d share what I did to adjust my eating while there. Hopefully it will spark some ideas fo
A lot of people I talk to about mindful eating are perfectionists. And I can sympathize, since I have this tendency myself. I think diet culture fosters this “all or nothing” approach, where things can’t be good enough. If you haven’t done something perfectly, if you’re not the best, then you’ve failed. This way of thinking is damaging – and also completely untrue. It’s impossible for everyone to be “the best,” and as humans, it’s also impossible for us to be perfect. Laura Vanderkam touches on this in her book, Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done. (I also mentioned the book last week in my discussion of the differences between our experiencing self, our remembering self, a
Maybe this sounds familiar. You bought a bunch of nutritious food at the store, food you actually like, with the goal of packing lunches and cooking good dinners. For the first couple of days, everything goes according to plan. You feel good, physically and emotionally. But then you have a long day or two. Nothing catastrophic happens, but a string of small events makes you feel stressed and pressed for time. By mid-week, you’re already exhausted. You don’t feel like you have energy to cook anything. You want something quick and easy, even though you know you’ll probably feel better if you use the food you already have. So you pick up something to go, or get take-out. Maybe you end up eating
You’ve probably heard how beneficial it is to cultivate gratitude, maybe even keep a gratitude journal. That’s all well and good, except it can be easy for this to become something on your to-do list that you skim by. At least, I notice this for myself. I write down 3 good things from the day in my journal, but they’re often high-level. I don’t actually pause to feel them. So here are three tips to help keep this real. Ask why On Wednesday I was thinking I was grateful for the Farmers’ Market. But without truly reflecting on why I’m grateful, it becomes a somewhat pointless exercise. Just a random note in a long string of them. So if I want to get the full benefits of gratitude, I need to as
