When I am working with a client about making healthy choices at home, I often get asked “Christie, how do you do it?” Let me first start off by saying that I am not perfect and all my meals at home are not from scratch with all organic ingredients. However, I do recognize that I put having healthy foods available at home high on the priority list so I am willing to shop, prep, and cook foods. This sometimes does come with a price (and I am not referencing the actual cost) such as giving up time laying on the couch on a Sunday afternoon for taking a trip to the grocery store to prepare for the week. It can also be spending time after a long day at work in the kitchen cooking dinner or packing lunches for the next day. I believe that the benefits far outweigh the costs and that is why I choose to do it week after week.
Sometimes the task of eating nutritious foods falls into the category of “things that I know that I should do but I just don’t.” I am realistic and I know that not everyone makes this a priority like I do. Let’s face it-there is a long list of things that I know that I should do myself that I just don’t make it a priority such as do daily stretching, practicing meditation, balancing my checkbook, etc. The rational part of me knows that all of these things are important to my overall well-being but they just don’t rank as high on my priority list. I do know that the more that I talk about these things with experts in those areas or peers, the more that it raises my awareness about it and I tend to make small improvements in these areas.
So my challenge to you is this: can you increase your awareness of what foods you are putting into your body? It doesn’t have to be perfect and it doesn’t have to be for all your meals. With an increased awareness, maybe it means choosing to buy some fresh produce in the grocery store when you might never put a fruit or vegetable in your buggy or bringing a can of almonds to work as snack instead of picking some type of snack cracker or item from the vending machine. While to you it might seem like these changes do not amount to anything, we know that they can accumulate over time and continue to instill the positive behavior. Who knows-maybe eating nutritious foods will move up closer to the top of your priority list?
