A new look at food journaling…
Goal: Emotional and Behavioral pattern recognition and awareness
WHAT?! are we going to do?
For this exercise, we are going to focus on a few simple things;
- What we eat (Behavior)
- Why we eat it (Mindset)
- When we eat it (Environment)
This should be done in your journal or in simple notebook paper. (Not on a phone or in an app)
The goal is discovery and awareness of patterns of mindset, behaviors, and emotions. We are NOT counting calories. For the purpose of this journal activity, there is no guilt of shame for what we eat or don’t eat. This exercise is designed specifically to record the facts of the situation to understand where our heart, mind, and feet are TODAY.
After we record a weeks’ worth of eating activity, we now know what we are doing, the question is WHY?! are we doing it?
Everything I have ever read about eating, diets, losing weight, etc comes with specifics on macros or calories or numbers or shakes or pills… yet how often do we look into the reality of the situation to know where to even begin changing? How often do we look at the real situation to know exactly what our current thoughts, behaviors, and emotions really are?
3 simple yet important questions to we need to ask in order to make a positive change in business, fitness, or life are;
- What am I currently doing?
- Why am I taking the action?
- How should I take the next step forward?
The importance of the simple questions is to understand where our feet are TODAY, where our head is TODAY and what the most reasonable, achievable and challenging step forward is from where we are right now, in this moment in time.
Think of it this way for a minute. If you are in San Diego and you want to go to New York City, you can’t start in Texas… you have to take your first step in San Diego.
If you are struggling with overconsuming less than positive foods and you don’t know the truth of the what and the why you are taking the action, the thought of change is daunting and unlikely for the simple reason of, you are going to try and start in Texas when you’re in San Diego.
How will we move forward?
This is a great question and one that must be understood and personalized for each person.
Some people might work on adding in more positive food and crowding out some less than positive food.
Others might work to increase physical movement and reduce overall calorie consumption.
A common side effect of this exercise is when someone realizes they have naturally begun to reduce what they eat and how much they eat simply by bringing awareness and focus to their behaviors in the kitchen.
Think about it, when was the last time you remember eating because you were hungry?
Do you eat because it’s “the time of day”?
Are you eating for “hunger to come”?
Are you eating just because someone mentioned they were going to eat something?
The most interesting part of doing this exercise myself and with my clients is to see what eating patterns we are really following and why we take the actions without even thinking about what we are doing or why we are doing it.
If you or someone you know is struggling with their current thoughts and actions, have them try this exercise to if they discover something about themselves, they didn’t know. Do the exercise to understand, not to hold guilt or shame over your head for where you are today… but to understand how to take the first step in the new direction you have always wanted to go!
I would be happy to work through more details with you one on one or to help you understand how to dissect the results and create a strategy for moving forward! You can schedule a call here: https://coachgary.as.me/callgary
garystotler.com 