New E-Book Excerpt 3: Eating Healthy (Draft)

In this country a lot of focus is given to weight and appearance: fat or skinny, where the focus should be on eating habits: healthy or unhealthy.  Where a focus on appearance can reinforce low self esteem and self sabotage, a focus on healthy eating habits should reinforce high self esteem and complement positive activities such as exercise.

Everyone tries to eat healthy, yet we all struggle to actually make it happen.  We can set out with the best intentions, however when it comes time to eat, somehow there are always a lot of obstacles that stand in our way.  Obstacles are often the result of a combination of internal and external influences.  Some of the most common external influences for eating poorly are the cost of healthy food, and convenience.  Internal influences could be stress, emotional baggage.  Cravings are probably the most common reason for eating poorly, but I pair them up with stress since we are most susceptible to yield to cravings when we are under a lot of stress. 

Each day we set out to eat healthy, yet encounter many obstacles along the way that cause us to fall short.  I find that it all starts with breakfast, that is where the pattern begins.  We are in a hurry and need to grab something fast—something fast to get and fast to eat.  Most breakfast options consist of carbohydrates and sugar.  They give you that quick energy to sort of jump-start your day.  The carbohydrates quickly turn into sugars and the combination of fast energy comes as fast as it goes.  Over the course of the day we find ourselves repeatedly just trying to get something fast to eat, this goes for lunch and sometimes even for dinner.  By the end of the day we’re too exhausted to make anything complicated, so we look for frozen or canned foods that we can microwave and eat with a beer or two before we fall asleep in front of the television.  When the next morning comes the pattern starts over.

The pattern is self-sabotaging because it keeps us in a perpetual chaotic and unorganized state.   You may have first adopted the pattern in college or even in high school.  The root cause of the pattern could be some emotional baggage or there may be stresses in your life that make you feel like you are always under the gun.  To determine the root cause of the pattern you should revisit the chapter “Healthy Mentality” and work through my suggestions to resolve the issue(s).

Once the root causes of the pattern have been acknowledged and resolved, there may be a few more superficial causes such as: financial constraints or time constraints/convenience.  For the more superficial causes of poor diet it often comes down to making a proper diet a priority in your life.  Doing so be an easier exercise if most of the root causes have already been resolved.  This is because you will be less susceptible to engaging in self-sabotaging activities that would leave you vulnerable to making a poor diet decision.  An example of this would be leaving the house just before dinner time to run a few errands without having eaten before you left.  In the back of your mind you would know that you would be left stopping for fast food somewhere once you got too hungry to wait.  Having resolved those root causes, you are more likely to think ahead a little and eat before you run out at dinner time.

Another more superficial cause for poor diet could be that eating healthy seems boring.  Who wants to eat soggy tasteless vegetables at every meal for the rest of their life?  It takes a long time to cook, does not taste good, results in dishes that you will need to wash, and it all happens in your boring kitchen or dining room.  Plus it costs about the same amount as grabbing a burger and fries, sometimes it costs more.  No wonder even people with a healthy mentality are sometimes tempted by fast food.  How can we make meals at home more interesting?

First of all eating plain chicken or beef with overcooked vegetables each night just won’t cut it.  What about making some interesting meals: shopping in the international section of the supermarket, lightly sautéing vegetables instead of boiling them, or making the occasional healthy desert?  The larger supermarkets usually have an international section and an even better option may be to try one of the local ethnic food stores.  Making something new is often just a matter of using a few new spices, vegetables, and or sauces.  Try making a mild version first, you can always add a little kick to it after your first attempt.

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