Food is clearly an integral part of our physical well-being, but it is also very much connected to our emotional health. It nourishes our bodies and affects how we feel. Sometimes, without even realizing it, we turn to food when we are stressed or unhappy instead of confronting our emotions head-on. In addition, though many "comfort foods" (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, oh my!) are delicious and satisfying occasionally, they are not very healthy for everyday consumption. Studies show that a poor diet can lead to mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, so it is extra important to evaluate what we put into our bodies.
Keeping a food journal can help you see not only what you eat, but how and why you eat. You don't need to become an obsessive calorie-counter, but simply writing down the foods you eat and how you are feeling when you eat them can help you make healthier choices. You might not even realize that you drink two colas and eat a bag of potato chips with lunch every day, but it's hard to ignore the facts when they are written down in black and white.
Mireille Guiliano, the author of the helpful book French Women Don’t Get Fat, recommends keeping a food journal at the beginning of a journey toward healthier eating. She bases her philosophy of eating on maximizing the pleasure you get from food, and you can’t enjoy something that you consume unawares. Guiliano shares a week-long food journal of her own and concludes, “The general pattern, as you can see, is that I eat three balanced meals a day with plenty of vegetables and fruit, and always foods (and drinks) that bring me lots of pleasure.”
Here’s an exercise to try:
1. For seven days, keep a food journal. Every time you eat or drink something, jot it down along with the time and date. Add a few remarks about how you were feeling at the moment. Were you happy, sad, bored, tired? If applicable, also write down what you were doing while eating (working, watching TV, reading) and who you were with.
2. Try not to judge yourself or feel guilty while journal writing. Simply record what you are eating and feeling, and you can evaluate your entries later.
3. After the seven days, reread your journal entries. Do you notice any trends? What foods do you eat too often? What foods are lacking in your diet? What emotions do you most commonly describe? Write down your observations and reflect on any changes you would like to make, big or small.
Remember: you are what you eat, so be good to yourself!
How has journal writing helped you eat healthier? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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