A little over a month ago, I started a food journal. I would jot down what I was eating on a given day to get a handle on what I was doing to myself.
I started out just eating normally and got a base line. I didn’t want to make the food journal a chore or something I over-thought, so I literally would just make note of the food, not worrying about serving amounts or calories. I didn’t want to turn it into a science project or algebra problem.
It’d be as simple as:
Wednesday:
Waffles with syrup
Black coffee
Pasta with spinach and mushrooms
Apple
Pizza
Lots of water
It was something I could do once a day, or even be able to keep up with every other day and still get an accurate account of what I was eating. I’d put in there eating habits I was proud of “didn’t eat the brownies in the break room” and “convinced myself not to buy candy from the vending machine”.
I also, about once a week, used it as an actual journal writing about what was going on at work, at home, just in general. I went into this knowing what my food triggers were: stress, boredom and perceived lack of time.
None of those are breakthrough or original. I know a lot, if not most, people have the same triggers. But, as I just “made a note” of things I noticed some things changing.
By writing down what I was eating every day I had a visual representation of what just wasn’t sinking in otherwise. I could see how many times I ordered pizza or stopped by the store to grab one on the way home from work. I knew I did it twice a week at least but seeing it in writing somehow made it more real.
I saw that I can easily pass up sweets at work, I can pass up the wine or beer already in the house, I can happily eat all the fruits and veggies in the world for lunch or dinner- but if I have enough time to think about it, I can convince myself to eat pizza at the drop of a hat.
I will self-sabotage every time.
Last week I found myself in a familiar position: I was going to get off work right smack dab at dinner time. I was going home to an empty house because my husband was at work. Suddenly, I didn’t want what I had at home waiting for me. I could easily stop off at the Little Caesar’s that was right on the way home…
It’s practically a trap.
While I was on my lunch break, eating my nice healthy, filling lunch that I’d brought, I grabbed my food journal and started writing. I just wrote about the fact that I wanted the pizza even though I knew I didn’t need it. I was just craving it for no reason.
I’ve mentally had this debate/conversation with myself a thousand times driving home. I always gave in.
But this time, I wrote it down. I wrote the words “I will not get pizza for dinner. I will eat the salad I have at home.” And I managed to actually do it.
I drove past Little Caesar’s, I went home and ate my salad.
For whatever reason, writing it down made it all more real. It made it binding.
I don’t know what it is about writing it down that magically made it work, but here we are.
I’ve tried it several times and it’s worked every time. I have gone two weeks without last minute pizza for dinner. The journal has helped me over come stress and “no time” triggers.
Today, today boredom hit. It’s my day off, and because I work so much closer to my house, I didn’t have a twenty-item long To-Do list to get through. I had a few things to get done today (grocery shopping, mow the lawn, wash the towels, and give the dog a bath) but that’s barely anything compared to what I usually try to cram in on a day off.
I went so far as to log into a pizza delivery account and start an order. Then I closed out and played around on Facebook. Then I logged back in and started an order. Then I closed out and played around on Twitter. Then I logged back in and started the third order.
I knew I was just going to convince myself to order pizza for no other reason than I was bored and didn’t have anything to do.
I was about to grab my food journal and I thought, what the hell, put this out there.
Writing down what you’re thinking, what you’re going through, no matter how stupid and small it is in the grand scheme of things, can help you figure out what is going on. And maybe help you work through it.
This is still a work in progress.
But tonight, I didn’t order pizza.
And that matters.
I started out just eating normally and got a base line. I didn’t want to make the food journal a chore or something I over-thought, so I literally would just make note of the food, not worrying about serving amounts or calories. I didn’t want to turn it into a science project or algebra problem.
It’d be as simple as:
Wednesday:
Waffles with syrup
Black coffee
Pasta with spinach and mushrooms
Apple
Pizza
Lots of water
It was something I could do once a day, or even be able to keep up with every other day and still get an accurate account of what I was eating. I’d put in there eating habits I was proud of “didn’t eat the brownies in the break room” and “convinced myself not to buy candy from the vending machine”.
I also, about once a week, used it as an actual journal writing about what was going on at work, at home, just in general. I went into this knowing what my food triggers were: stress, boredom and perceived lack of time.
None of those are breakthrough or original. I know a lot, if not most, people have the same triggers. But, as I just “made a note” of things I noticed some things changing.
By writing down what I was eating every day I had a visual representation of what just wasn’t sinking in otherwise. I could see how many times I ordered pizza or stopped by the store to grab one on the way home from work. I knew I did it twice a week at least but seeing it in writing somehow made it more real.
I saw that I can easily pass up sweets at work, I can pass up the wine or beer already in the house, I can happily eat all the fruits and veggies in the world for lunch or dinner- but if I have enough time to think about it, I can convince myself to eat pizza at the drop of a hat.
I will self-sabotage every time.
Last week I found myself in a familiar position: I was going to get off work right smack dab at dinner time. I was going home to an empty house because my husband was at work. Suddenly, I didn’t want what I had at home waiting for me. I could easily stop off at the Little Caesar’s that was right on the way home…
It’s practically a trap.
While I was on my lunch break, eating my nice healthy, filling lunch that I’d brought, I grabbed my food journal and started writing. I just wrote about the fact that I wanted the pizza even though I knew I didn’t need it. I was just craving it for no reason.
I’ve mentally had this debate/conversation with myself a thousand times driving home. I always gave in.
But this time, I wrote it down. I wrote the words “I will not get pizza for dinner. I will eat the salad I have at home.” And I managed to actually do it.
I drove past Little Caesar’s, I went home and ate my salad.
For whatever reason, writing it down made it all more real. It made it binding.
I don’t know what it is about writing it down that magically made it work, but here we are.
I’ve tried it several times and it’s worked every time. I have gone two weeks without last minute pizza for dinner. The journal has helped me over come stress and “no time” triggers.
Today, today boredom hit. It’s my day off, and because I work so much closer to my house, I didn’t have a twenty-item long To-Do list to get through. I had a few things to get done today (grocery shopping, mow the lawn, wash the towels, and give the dog a bath) but that’s barely anything compared to what I usually try to cram in on a day off.
I went so far as to log into a pizza delivery account and start an order. Then I closed out and played around on Facebook. Then I logged back in and started an order. Then I closed out and played around on Twitter. Then I logged back in and started the third order.
I knew I was just going to convince myself to order pizza for no other reason than I was bored and didn’t have anything to do.
I was about to grab my food journal and I thought, what the hell, put this out there.
Writing down what you’re thinking, what you’re going through, no matter how stupid and small it is in the grand scheme of things, can help you figure out what is going on. And maybe help you work through it.
This is still a work in progress.
But tonight, I didn’t order pizza.
And that matters.
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