How I Do That Thing I Do…With My Food

Some people ask me how I’m able to eat the way I eat.

They’re amazed that I don’t cook my food.

And that I don’t feel deprived all the time.

And that I manage to survive without cheese or sugar.

They think it takes will power, so they tell themselves they could never do it.

They think it requires a lot of time, so they tell themselves they could never do it.

But they totally can do it.

If I can do it, anyone can do it.

It comes down to this:

Are you willing to feel good more often?

I know it sounds like a weird question…

But I mean it…

Would it be okay with you if you felt good more often?

Would it be okay with you if you didn’t feel so __insert negative emotion of choice__ ?

Would it be okay if you felt open-hearted, peaceful, hopeful and happy about your life?

Most people would say, “Absolutely! Pass the Happy!”

But what they say and what they do are entirely different things…

The things they do DON’T help them get happier.

And I used to do this same thing.

I said I wanted to feel better. I said things like, “I just want to be happy…” “I want to feel at peace w/my life.”

But then I didn’t act according to that. It was just lip service. My actions didn’t back me up.

I’d go out at lunch and have a bunch of Thai noodles and peanut sauce and fried tofu, oily curry and rice, and then feel full, heavy, and exhausted.

Then I’d have to take a nap for 2 hours because the food made me so tired…

And I’d wake up feeling groggy – never really perking up all the way back up….

Then I’d eat my Thai leftovers and veg out in front of the TV until I went to bed.

Umm HELLO?

That’s not what someone who wants to feel GOOD does.

People who want to feel good don’t eat food that makes them feel bad.

Duh.

They don’t eat food that makes them tired, have a headache, or be unable to concentrate or come crashing down later.

People who want to feel good eat food that helps them feel good…if not better!

(They certainly don’t eat food that makes them feel worse.)

People who want to feel good eat food that gives them energy so they can do whatever they choose to do.

People who want to feel good spend time working through their own drama instead of spending hours watching TV about other people’s dramas.

I said that I wanted to feel good – and I loved the idea of it – but the truth was that I didn’t really want to feel good.

I wasn’t ready yet. That’s why I ate things that made me feel bad.

I just wasn’t ready to feel good yet.

I didn’t think it was okay.

And a really big part of it was that I didn’t think I could feel good.

I was kinda attached and stuck in the place I was at and didn’t get that I actually could feel better.

Now that I know I deserve to feel good, my food choices are easier…

I’m very clear about WHY I eat the way I do.

I eat what I eat because I know it’s going to support me in feeling good and celebrating my life!

My body and my mind feel great because of what I choose to eat.

Check in with yourself:

Did you intentionally choose the way you’re eating?

Or are you eating the way you eat out of default?

Do you know WHY you’re eating the way you’re eating?

Do you know WHY you’re eating the things you’re eating?

What do you base your food choices on? Taste? Texture? Price? Nutrient levels? Calories? Expiration date? Location? Convenience?

Doing that thing I do with my food isn’t even about the food…

It’s just one of many things that have changed in my life as a result of choosing to feel good.