Cultivating Healthy Practices

     In continuation of my last post  - I would like to discuss several important practices to create awareness about what, how, why and when we eat. This post - we'll discuss 'WHAT'

    What do I eat? Why do you need to answer this question for yourself? 

Before shifting to a healthy eating pattern, you first need to distinguish what it is that you already eat that isn't healthy. Becoming conscious of that, you then start to look at what kind of healthy foods you can consume.

    To get a grip on what you actually eat is simple  - start keeping a food journal [you can buy a mini diary with sufficient space for writing a whole day's intake - including beverages]. At the end of each day, make a habit of writing down everything that you consumed the whole day from the time you woke up.

For example - wake up - coffee [with 2 tsp sugar]

                          Breakfast - 4 idlis with 2 tbsp coconut chutney ,   coffee [with 2 tsp sugar]

                          Lunch - 4 pooris+ aloo subji + chhole + dahi

                          Afternoon - 2 cups Coffee [with 2 tsp sugar each]

                          Evening - samosa + fruit juice [with 3tsp sugar]

                          2 good day biscuits when I came home.

                          Dinner -   curd rice [2 cups]

     Also keep track of how much water you had during the day -8 glasses or 2 litres is a good intake for most people but it may be less or more depending on a variety of factors - you can expect a post in the near future on this subject.

     And as you're writing in this journal, look at how much food you're eating, is it healthy or unhealthy, do you eat on time, etc.

     First of all to create the habit of writing in your journal requires discipline in daily practice and it's the first step in bringing the mostly unconscious act of eating into the conscious realm.

     Keep the journal for a minimum of 40 days and remember to do the analysis after you've entered the daily intake of what you ate or drank that you shouldn't have and what could you have consumed instead. 

     For example - instead of eating that samosa in the evening, you could have had a salad or a whole wheat sandwich without butter or even a bowl of sprouts, depending on what was available. 

     Carry this book with you everywhere and keep looking through it frequently. If you miss entering a day's intake, recollect as much as possible and fill it in the next day. If you miss a week, enter as much as you remember and commit to continue for another 30 days.

I'm looking forward to hear what you observed about your eating and what you started implementing as a result of keeping this journal.

If you need my support at any point of time please feel free to email me or leave a comment.