Eat with Your Mind More than Your Tastebuds

As we all know, we are emotionally drawn to food. We look forward to holidays where we have traditional recipes we have been waiting for all year. When we get sad, sometimes we turn to chocolate or unhealthy carbs. When we celebrate, we want pizza. Having a baby shower? Let’s make sugar cookies that are decorated with artificial coloring. 

And I am not against any of this, but if or when you struggle with cravings and bad food choices, I want to offer you some insight that may help you stay on track.

After Neil’s heart attack, our hands were tied. We were forced to clean up what we were eating. After all, he almost died! Changing was no option. There was no turning back. We didn’t want him on 7 medications forever so that was all the motivation we needed to make these swift changes.

Now…if you are reading this and you haven’t had a life-threatening health scare, you may not be as inclined to make these healthy changes in the foods that you are eating.

Maybe your doctor told you your cholesterol is high. Maybe you have just gained some weight and think it’s time to get it off. Maybe you are diabetic but living with it through meds. Whatever your reason for wanting to eat healthier may be, it can be challenging when you aren’t forced to do it like we were.

During our transition from heart attack to healthy living, it really helped to shift my mindset. I had to come up with a way for me to continue this journey and keep pushing through. I adapted a few tips that have now become habits and I would love to share them with you. Maybe one (or all) of them will resonate with you.

1. Before making an unhealthy food choice I say to myself, “How long will the pleasure of X food last? Is it worth it?” Because the long-term affects of that X food is that I am postponing my optimum health
2. When I know I am going to a party or a vacation, I prepare by eating and drinking super well before that event. I load up on green foods, drink a ton of water, and eat lots of healthy fats. That way, I have no shame while I am enjoying that event/holiday/vacation
3. I eat with my mind more than I eat with my tastebuds. I try to plan meals that are full of nutrients (and of course I want them to taste good), but I go less off of cravings. Your taste buds will then follow what your mind says you should eat and it will taste better
4. As you clean up your diet (slowly), your tastebuds will change. They will get a makeover. You will begin to crave the healthier foods. Processed foods “numb” our taste buds. So as we eat more nutritious foods, our bodies begin to crave them more. Also, you will begin to like foods you may not have liked before so be sure to reintroduce foods into your diet to see if you like them. 
5. My love for feeling good now outweighs my love for the taste of unhealthy food. I used to crave Oreos. No joke. Years later, I wanted to try one. I’ll be honest, it did NOTHING for me. I ate it. I liked it ok, but it sure didn’t taste as good as I remember.

My hope for you is that you really work on your mindset around healthy eating. Have a positive attitude around this relationship with healthier foods. Your mind is going to believe whatever you tell it. Are you telling it good things about anti-inflammatory foods? Are you pumping yourself up for a healthy meal? 

Let’s get all the negative jargon out of our heads and out of our vocabulary around healthier foods. It’s all a mindset. 

What is your mind telling you about healthy food? Do you beat it down before you even make your grocery list? Let’s change that shall we??

Xoxo,