A few weeks ago I talked about automating your weight loss journey by planning, preparing, setting reminders, establishing routines and setting and scheduling appointments with yourself to ensure the most important things such as exercise gets done. Today I want to talk about de-automating (is that a word?) your eating for weight loss success.
We make a trillion decisions each and everyday. From the moment the alarm goes off until we shut our eyes each night our minds are constantly reeling with decisions.
- Should I get up now or sleep for another 10 minutes?
- Should I wear my blue skirt or my red skirt?
- Should I pin my hair up or wear it down?
- Should I eat an omelette or just have some fruit and yogurt?
- Should I take my lunch with me or come home for lunch?
- Should I work on project A or project B?
- Should I call mom now or wait until after 11:00?
And the list goes on and on and on. Now in the above examples I only mentioned two food decisions, but the truth is there are several that we make during the course of the day. Some include:
- To eat breakfast or not to eat breakfast
- To take my lunch or grab something from Wendy’s
- To cook dinner or to order out
- To eat the chips or to eat an apple
My question to you is, do you ever stop long enough to question or consider the consequences of your decision? If you make a certain choice, how will it affect your overall health? Do you ever think past the immediate moment to consider the long term affects of your choices be them good or bad? I’m guessing the answer is, no, not really. I come to this conclusion because for many of us our eating has been on auto pilot. Rather than thinking about eating from a health standpoint, we eat…
- because others are eating
- because it looks or sounds good
- because it’s 12:00 noon and that’s when lunch is
- because we’re rushed and need to grab something quick
- because, you fill in the blank_____
Let’s think about taking our eating off of auto pilot by putting some thought and consideration to not only what we are eating, but also why we are eating it. Are we truly hungry or was something triggered in us to eat after seeing a Pizza Hut commercial? Is this actually the best or healthiest option available to me or am I strictly thinking about convenience now and opting to throw health and well-being out the window?
The point I’m trying to make is this…think before you eat. Think about the consequences of eating three cookies vs. eating an apple. I’m not suggesting that each and every decision should be the absolute “right” one, but in stopping and thinking about our food choices especially as they line up with our weight loss and health goals, making the “right” choice should happen more often than not.
Your Turn To Share
How often do you eat out of habit and not think about what you’re eating, why you’re eating it, and what the consequence of your choice will be?