Self-Awareness Works (Dieting Advice)
Self-Awareness Works (Dieting Advice)
How brining consciousness to your diet can help you form better eating habits
It turns out that employing some basic self-awareness can play a major role in helping you make better choices in your diet. Here’s how…
Employing Self Awareness
It may sound like some hippy-dippy nonsense but I promise I’m going somewhere very concrete with this — just hang tight.
First, what do I mean by self awareness in this instance? Let’s define it by its negative, “unconsciousness”. We make unconscious decisions all the time. Mindlessly leaving our keys in places we forget, nail-biting, fidgeting, impulse buying, procrastination, etc. are all examples of common unconscious behaviors we’ve all participated in at some point in our lives. For our purposes, the unconscious behavior of interest is making impulse food choices.
How do we bring change? You probably guessed it, consciousness (self-awareness). But how?
Meal Tracking Leads To Self-Awareness
Working with clients I’ve discovered a remarkable difference in peoples food choices the moment they’re responsible for tracking their meals for a given period of time. I always start my clients with two weeks of meal tracking. The instructions I give them are as follows:
Do NOT change their diet from how they would normally eat
Record their meals using a meal tracking app (Macrofactor or MyFitnessPal)
The idea being that we would establish what is their baseline average daily caloric intake as a starting point to cleaning up their diets. What we discovered nearly across the board was that despite my telling them not to change their diets, everyone made better food choices. When I asked about this, it seemed like it wasn’t really a deliberate choice but a natural consequence of being more aware of what they were eating.
Key Takeaways
Awareness leads to better choices
When you start tracking your meals, you become more aware of what you're eating. This awareness can help you make better choices about what to eat and how much to eat. For example, if you see that you're eating too many calories from sugar or unhealthy fats, you can make a conscious effort to choose healthier options. By tracking your meals, you're taking control of your eating habits and making more informed decisions.
Accountability
Tracking your meals also provides a sense of accountability. When you know you have to log everything you eat, you're less likely to indulge in unhealthy foods. You're also more likely to stick to your goals and make healthier choices because you know you'll have to log them.
Consistency
By tracking your meals, you're creating a habit of mindfulness and consistency. When you make tracking your meals a daily habit, you're more likely to continue making healthier choices in the long run. This consistency can help you achieve your fitness and health goals and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
It's like journaling for your health
Tracking your meals is similar to journaling in that it helps you gain awareness and insights about your habits. Just as journaling helps you process your thoughts and emotions, tracking your meals can help you process your eating habits and make positive changes. By taking the time to log your meals and reflect on your choices, you're creating a valuable tool for self-reflection and self-improvement.
Concluding Thoughts
Tracking your meals for two weeks can help you become more aware of your food choices and eating habits. This awareness can lead to making better decisions and adopting healthier habits, which can have a positive impact on your overall health and well-being. It's similar to journaling, which can help you become more self-aware and understand your thoughts and emotions better. By paying attention to our unconscious behaviors and habits, we can make small, meaningful changes that can improve our lives. Therefore, if you're looking to make positive changes to your diet and improve your health, consider tracking your meals for two weeks and see the positive impact it can have on your life.
Also, consider joining Gaintrust for more help making gains.
Happy Gains