Not like, losing consciousness. Like, being conscious of what foods I'm putting in my mouth. Or lack of this aforementioned consciousness about foods.
I've never considered myself a mindless eater... like someone who will sit down in front of the TV with a bag of potato chips, and minutes later, find that bag empty. Nope, not me - I don't have those potato chips in my house, and when I do buy them, it's with intention of eating unhealthy snack foods rather than sticking to the foods that make me feel awesome and healthy. I never considered my eating particularly mindless... or un-conscious, if you will.
Then again, I think about when I'm totally off-track with my eating, and not taking care of my body. When I'm eating Cheetos, or bags full of candy, or a second bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, do I WANT to really think about what I'm doing? If this action was completely conscious, and I was paying complete attention to my eating crap that makes me feel terrible (mentally and physically), would I still do it?
Doubtful.
This is why having a therapist is good. You can think what you want on your own, and believe that you know everything about what sets you off, why you do the things you do, and what kinds of things you need. When you get that outsider's perspective, though, it's possible for that person to mention something so simple, something that you KNOW, somewhere, but it can still be incredibly helpful, and something you would not likely have come to on your own.
My therapist told me one of her hard and fast rules about food is to always have your butt on a chair when you eat. (And that chair can not be a seat in your car, for what it's worth.) It seems like something very simple, that may not be a drastic change, but what kinds of behaviors could it eliminate?
1. Standing in front of your boyfriend's fridge eating cheesecake out of the box because you are really hungry. (Ahem.)
2. Nibbling on everything you touch during dinner prep when you're hungry... then not actually being hungry when you sit down to eat dinner.
3. Shoveling that extra cookie or appetizer off a plate at a party into your mouth without considering whether you're hungry or not.
Et cetera, et cetera.
So I'm trying this whole "sit on my butt" to eat thing.
If I want that cheesecake from A's fridge, I can take a slice, put it on a plate, and sit down to eat it. In fact, this whole process might make me rethink this choice, and instead, save that slice until after I eat something more nutritious if I'm really hungry. And last night, even though I was starving post-run, I was able to savor my food so much more when I was sitting down with my full meal in front of me, not having eaten half of it while prepping in my kitchen.
Most importantly, for me, it's that "Would I eat that if I had to make a conscious decision about eating it, rather than just grabbing it and eating it without really thinking too hard?"
It's something to keep at, for sure. And maybe, at some point, I'll even turn off the TV while I eat. But first things first.
Consciousness.
(.gif from Women's Health)
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