Conscious eating is about being aware of the things you are putting into your body.
You want to eat a diet that FEEDS your body. So ask yourself – is the food that I am putting in my body fueling me or is it feeding my emotions. A lot of times we eat to stuff down our feelings, comfort our anxiety or to fill a void in our lives. To better understand STRESS eating is to first to become aware of what you are doing, acknowledge when and why and then make a conscious effort to stop.
Journaling about what’s eating you helps get the emotions out of your body and on paper; it’s a great way to process. If you are stressed out or looking for a way to get grounded instead a bag of pretzels eating try going for a walk or run in nature or take a yoga class.
FOOD JOURNAL –
For the next week write a food journal. In the journal keep track of –
- Waking time
- Times of eating –(what you ate, drank, how much, where you ate , how much time did you had to eat your meal and how were you feeling at the moment of eating ? – Ex rushed , upset .. .)
- Scale from 1-10 fullness
- What was the mood of the day?
- What was your stress level?
- What was your energy level?
- Was there a time in the day when you were exhausted?
- Did you Exercise, if so how much?
- How much water did you drink?
You will start to see a pattern. From there you can design a program for yourself to see what needs some tweaking.
TUNING IN TO WHAT YOU NEED –
A great way to go with in anywhere and tune into what you need is to close your eyes and take a few slow deep breaths into your belly. Begin to acknowledge how you are feeling, weather it is. Stressed, happy, rushed or whatever, just be with it and feel. Ask what do I need at this time? Don’t over think it but just allow what ever comes to come. Do you need to rest, relax, exercise, stretch, water, food and if so if so what kind? Play with this and try following the answer. This is your intuition. You might not hear anything at first; keep practicing eventually you will hear and make choices from this place.
A FEW THINGS TO PONDER
Start tuning in to how you feel after you eat a certain food. Are you tired or energized? Do you eat when you are really hungry or is it out of conditioning that its 12 pm and “it lunch time. “ Do you listen to your body and stop eating when you are full? Do you rest when tired? Your body never lies. Go with in, ask and you will receive all you need to know. It’s up to you to follow the answer you get by taking action.
