New way to do a food diary

[ElainaThiemann]

I know that this is a raw board and that most of the people who are already there already listen to their body's needs but I thought this might be helpful for some of us struggling on the journey.

I had a brilliant idea last night. I don't know if this would be helpful to anyone else. For all I know, this is really how a food diary is supposed to work, but here it goes. I am always hesitant to do a food diary. There are only two reasons to do one. Either I am showing it to someone else to figure out where I am making mistakes or it is for my own accountability. Both of those reasons center on negativity for me. There's too much guilt involved. It is never a true picture on my diet, it is just a record of my attempt to be perfect. Even when they suggest you write your mood, I don't really find that helpful.

Last night though, I came up with a new idea. Along with writing the time and what I ate, I can write why I chose that particular food. I can do it for a week without trying to alter my behavior. Some examples would be fuel, convenience, treat, entitlement, it was there, stuffing emotions, etc. For me, one obstacle is that I keep trying to alter the way I eat without addressing why I eat that way. I make it all about what I am doing versus what I know I should be doing. I don't think that works for me. A better way is to listen to my body and give it what it wants. There are very few times that I eat junk food because I really WANT it. Usually there is much more emotional crap wrapped up in it.

I am going to try it out for a week without trying to alter my behavior. Maybe next week I will try it while making dietary changes. It will be a little experiment.

Elaina

[lil fairy z girl]

sounds interesting. i also find the accountability and not wanting to see my failures as one reason why i haven't done a 30 day challenge journal. one part of me wants to do it, the other just doesn't.

i also eat things because of issues and sometimes i eat because of depression, boredom, anger whatever. i have recently fell off the wagon, and ate some bad foods, and so i am trying again.

let us know how you get on with your new idea.

sal
~*~*~*

[ktkat]

Right on. I've done a food diary in the past, and it eventually evolved to what you're doing. I felt much better about my choices and myself.

[D'vorah]

Something I wrote up for myself:

Reasons For Eating Wrong Foods

How food calls:
1. Taste
a. Sweet (cookies, candy)
b. Salty (chips, popcorn)
2. Texture
a. Creamy (ice cream, creamy pasta sauces)
b. Crunchy (candy, chips)
c. Fizzy (soda)
3. Temperature
a. Cool/cold (ice cream, sodas)
b. Warm (pie)
4. Social
a. Shared with people
b. Place of purchase (atmosphere)

Function - Food is created and intended for one purpose only – fuel for the body. We use it illegitimately for many other purposes:

1. Disconnect
a. It’s in one’s hand and mouth before one even thinks about or considers it.
b. Not asking and listening to one’s body.

2. To forget (for a while) the pain/disappointment of life.

3. Unconditional satisfaction (food never talks back, blames or judges, it just makes onw feel better without asking for anything in return).

4. Companionship – feeling less lonely at the end of the day.

5. Stress reduction (a pressure valve when the system is about to explode), soothing nervousness.

6. Reward (albeit counterfeit) for:
a. Enduring the disappointments of life.
b. Surviving the struggles of life.
c. Living in the midst of the pain of life.
False payback for facing life, even if life wasn’t truly faced, but merely endured.

7. Good taste – enjoying the pleasures of heaven now.

8. Comforting effect.

9. Offers a counterfeit form of nurturing.
a. Medicating – numbs emotional pain or dampens strong emotions such as anger.
b. It gives back to me; it fills emptiness or staves off fear of emptiness.
c. Food functions as a reward for “being good,” and a “proof” of “goodness.” (You were such a good girl at the doctor’s office; let’s get you a treat. Only now it’s adult issues and greater volume of reward than simply a lollypop).

10. Revenge and blaming patterns.
a. It contains and expresses anger.
b. He hurt me, so I’ll get even by tearing the head off of this Twinkie.
c. I let this happen, so I’ll punish me by eating this bad thing

11. Addiction.

12. Not wanting to be noticed or not wanting to be different.

13. Keeping secrets (sense of power)

14. Being desensitized to unhealthy nature/familiarized with flavors.

15. Force of habit.

16. Fear of deprivation - Gotta eat it now, I may never get to again.

17. Hunger from waiting too long to eat.

18. Convenience and availability.

19. Quick energy instead of real nutrition and rest.

20. Cost.

21. Going along with the group, bandwagon.

22. Avoidance of life, escape.

23. Sense of power

24. Sense of self (the Starbucks scene in the movie You've Got Mail), sense of belonging

25. Addiction to the stimulation of variety (Doug Graham quote)

[ElainaThiemann]

Thanks, D'Vorah. That list will be very helpful. My hope is that I can identify then hopefully eliminate the extraneous reasons I eat and get to eating for fuel.

[exurb]

thanks Dvorah for posting that.

Elaina, I was given a tip from a weight loss professional -- when writing a food diary make yourself write it down before you eat it. It's kind of interesting the subtle difference from a psychological perspective.

[Sharon in Colorado]

10. Revenge and blaming patterns...
b. He hurt me, so I’ll get even by tearing the head off of this Twinkie.

ROFL!!!

[D'vorah]

ROFL!!!

I know it seems funny reading it on the page, but when I'm there, it's like being possessed, it's angry, harsh, overwhelming. It's very, very painful and serious.

Fortunately, I'm not there as much as I used to be, thanks to The Pathway by Laurel Mellin.

Deborah

[babby]

"Function - Food is created and intended for one purpose only – fuel for the body."

I read this earlier today and it has stayed on my mind ever since. I have to disagree with this. I believe there are at least three reasons for food. True, one of them is for fuel. Another is for nutrition, which is an entirely different process in our bodies. Fuel is our energy, nutrition is the process by which we assimilate nutrients (if we do) and rebuild and replace cells. The third function in my world is pleasure. It would be sad if we didn't derive pleasure from this wonderful food we have available for us, especially when we are eating raw.
When I lived at a raw food health institute for 2 1/2 years, I learned an interesting idea, "never eat anything that doesn't make your mouth water." The reason for this, of course, is that digestion begins in your mouth, chewing thoroughly and mixing with saliva. So, no matter what you are using for fuel (or nutrition), make sure you experience pleasure, anticipation and some salivation as well!
Just a thought.

[D'vorah]

"Function - Food is created and intended for one purpose only – fuel for the body."

I read this earlier today and it has stayed on my mind ever since. I have to disagree with this. I believe there are at least three reasons for food. True, one of them is for fuel. Another is for nutrition, which is an entirely different process in our bodies. Fuel is our energy, nutrition is the process by which we assimilate nutrients (if we do) and rebuild and replace cells. The third function in my world is pleasure. It would be sad if we didn't derive pleasure from this wonderful food we have available for us, especially when we are eating raw.
When I lived at a raw food health institute for 2 1/2 years, I learned an interesting idea, "never eat anything that doesn't make your mouth water." The reason for this, of course, is that digestion begins in your mouth, chewing thoroughly and mixing with saliva. So, no matter what you are using for fuel (or nutrition), make sure you experience pleasure, anticipation and some salivation as well!
Just a thought.

I never meant to imply that food isn't pleasurable. We never know just HOW wonderful an apple is until we've left SAD behind. But I don't see pleasure as the *primary* purpose of food. When we USE it that way, it's not much more than a drug. M&M's and theater popcorn are pretty darned pleasurable in my book, I've been a slave to such things more than once. But, are they good for my body? Are they fuel beyond a quick burst of energy that drops quickly away? No, they aren't.

My point was the primary purpose of food is for providing our bodies with the raw materials of fuel.

But, really, I think you and I are in agreement across the board, and it's just semantics from there.

Deborah