We need to eat to survive, but sometimes the choices of food we eat are detrimental to our health. It seems obvious to say we need to make a decision every day for what we eat, but sometimes our own rationale isn’t helpful to us.
This concept of making a choice every single day for what we eat clicked with me when I was making the breakfast above. It’s not an ordinary breakfast that I would make, but I had the time so I went for it. While I was making this, I already was faced with multiple decisions. I could’ve cooked with butter, used white bread, and processed peanut butter. I could’ve sprinkled brown sugar on my apples and cheese on my eggs, but that day, I didn’t do any of that. Each of these choices seem very small and insignificant when you’re talking about one meal, but it can add up if you’re letting it happen for every meal.
Another thing that opened up my eyes was late night eating. This is a choice to make every day, and it’s up to you to decide whether you’re eating out of boredom, if you’re genuinely hungry and if so, which snack you will choose whether it’s healthy or not. It’s incredible how easy our will power can disappear when we try to justify our choices even though deep down inside, we know it’s the wrong choice.
As I started thinking deeply about this, it kind of reminded me of the KonMari method of tidying up. Where Marie Kondo says to keep things in our environment that “spark joy,” why don’t we eat things that spark joy? I know that eating junk food tastes wonderful while you’re eating it, but I’ve started to pay very close attention to how it actually affects me. Most of the time, I very much regret eating junk food. When I look at the picture above, that was something that sparked joy for me. I took the time to cook a meal for myself with several different food groups and even used my home grown fresh herbs. I felt good about all the decisions I made, and strangely enough, this doesn’t happen every meal.
Of course, this is all subjective. Some people could care less about eating healthy and just do what makes them happy in the moment. For myself, I started to imagine what it would feel like if I thought about all the food decisions I made before caving in to eat whatever is convenient. I think this applies to treating myself to junk food sometimes too. For example, if I feel like I’ve been eating really well and it’s a hot summer day, I couldn’t say no to having ice cream with my friends. Perhaps I could choose to get a small cup, or choose to go all in and accept the consequences.
I think this becomes a problem if we justify every junk food choice, because then we go down a slippery slope. “I had an apple this week, so therefore I can order pizza, eat ice cream, drink a bunch of beer and have hot dogs every day.”
With all of the choices we have to make every day in general, making appropriate food choices can seem like the last thing on our list. I can totally see how there are people who suffer from food disorders because there is just so much psychological effort to balancing what you eat, why you are eating it, what your body looks and feels like, and how it can control your emotions.
If we decide to make more choices that make us feel good despite the little devil inside trying to justify why we should choose differently, I think our psychological well-being would be just fine. I find the more I justify “bad” choices, the worse I feel about what I eat. So why don’t I just make healthy choices more often so I feel really good about what’s going in my body?
I’m going to pay more attention to what my thoughts are for the food choices I make and if I truly feel good about choosing them. I’m thinking that this will cause me to make more healthy food choices than if I stay in the habit of not thinking before I eat.
Every time we are hungry, there is a decision to make. If we take a second to think about eating things that truly make us feel good about ourselves, whether it’s healthy or not, I think it will help our psychological well-being in the long run.
Ashley's Adventures 