Ep #75: Making Better Eating Decisions

Hi! Welcome back, I’m so glad you decided to listen to this podcast today. It really was a great decision that you made and today I’m going to talk to you about how you can also make great decisions when it comes to your eating!

I know that sometimes you may feel like you’re out of control when you’re eating.

You may feel like you’re not the one choosing to eat the food, that you’re having a out of body experience or you have been taken over by some kind of force.

And I totally get that, I used to feel the same way. I felt like once I was in binge mode there was no stopping me.

But you can be stopped, you are not out of your body, and you have not been taken over.

You are the one eating the food with your own hands and your own mouth and you’re doing it because you’re making decision after decision after decision to eat.

You are making a series of decisions that is leading you to continue eating once you’ve decided to start.

You’re deciding to eat more, then deciding to eat more and then deciding to eat more until you decide to stop.

So today I want to talk to you about how you can make better decisions when it comes to your eating so you can stop sooner or not even start at all.

Let’s first talk the decisions you are currently making.

If you’re feeling like how I described a minute ago, like you don’t have a choice, then you’re totally unaware of the decisions you’re making. You don’t even realize that you’re making them and if you don’t recognize these moments of decision then you can’t decide to choose otherwise.

Awareness is always the first step, you have to see what’s happening before you can change it.

In these instances, it’s most likely that you’re just running on autopilot, on your lower brain’s habitual programming. It’s very easy for you to make these decisions quickly and without effort because you’ve made them this way so many times.

You eat the food, your brain automatically tells you to eat more and you’re then driven to do so. You don’t stop and question it, you might not even be aware enough to hear it. You just go, go, go, and don’t challenge any of it.

If you are noticing the decisions being made, if you are actually having a little chat with yourself about whether you’re going to keep eating or not, and you do decide to keep eating in a time when you’re not hungry, you’re making the decision based emotional reasons.

You’re deciding based on what you feel like doing in that moment without considering the future or because you want to feel better, now, immediately, rather than making your choice based on your long-term well-being.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with deciding to eat when you’re not hungry, you can absolutely do that if you want to. But if it’s not aligned with your eating goals, then it’s probably not a decision you want to be making.

It’s not a true want of yours, but just a desire you’re feeling in that moment because of how you’re feeling.

You’re deciding to take the instant gratification instead of the delayed.

You’re choosing a short-term solution.

You’re choosing the quick and easy pleasure over the pleasure of feeling naturally good through true pleasures.

True pleasures are things that enhance your well-being and that create true happiness from within you, not things that are consumed to manipulate how you feel and then result in negative consequences when all is said and done.

Something else you might be doing, that’s also not helping you, is not making decisions at all and instead staying stuck in indecision.

You go back and forth between you want it and you don’t and you will and you won’t and on and on and it’s exhausting.

Whatever mental energy you had to begin with gets depleted.

Instead of making your decision and moving on, you stay in a constant state of confusion and uncertainty.

And then, I’m not going to say that living in indecision for too long is going to lead you to decisions that you’re going to wish you hadn’t made, but a lot of the time, it might. Especially if you’re someone who makes decisions they regret more often than not. That’s going to be your default when you’re mentally exhausted from the back and forth.

Indecision is not a fun place to be. Even when I’m talking to people about working with me, I encourage them to make their decision yes or no sooner than later because honestly, it really doesn’t do you much good to feel confused and uncertain for too long.

You may think that you need to think about your decision for longer, but I’d question that. What will thinking about it longer do? Decisions are made in an instant. They are made in the slice of time when you say yes or no. Up until you make it, you’re just spending your time feeling unsure.

You’re waiting for the certainty and I’m here to tell you that it may not come. And if it doesn’t, then you may say no to something that you really want to say yes to.

When you’re making your eating decision, how will you know for certain if you should eat it or not? The certainty doesn’t just come to you, you have to decide on it.

Certain is a feeling, we feel certain, so we create certainty by thinking our decision is the right one and we’re going to get what we truly want from it.

I remember I was uncertain about a coaching program I was considering signing up for for months. Other people encouraged me to, but I was uncertain about whether or not I’d get what I needed from it. Finally one day, I decided to go for it. I made that decision because I believed I’d get what I needed. And I’ll tell you, I did. It was totally worth it and had I never believed it would be worth it, I never would have signed up.

The only thing is, that I wish I had signed up sooner. I wish I had that belief sooner so I didn’t have to wait to get the results I did and learn what I did.

The longer you wait to decide, the longer you wait to get your results.

Now, tie that in to food. The longer you wait to decide if you’re going to eat or not, the longer you have to wait before you can either get your results of enjoying the pleasure of the food or get the result of overcoming an urge.

There is no wrong decision here. The only wrong decision is to not decide. To miss out on getting what you want when you don’t decide to get it.

Eating the food isn’t a wrong decision, and not eating it isn’t either.

They’re both just decisions you’re making. They’re simply that.

It’s not until you decide it was good or bad that it becomes that.

Even if you chose to do something you didn’t truly want to do, it doesn’t have to be labeled as a bad decision, it can still just be a decision you made that you would have rather you didn’t make. Not bad, just not ideal. It really does feel differently to think about it that way.

You’re better off just making a decision, no matter which way you go, and just being done with the confusion and the back and forth.

Making the decision allows you to move forward and indecision keeps you stuck. Decide to move forward, in whatever direction you decide to go, and decide it was the right way to go. There is no right or wrong, just what you decide.

So now that you’re actually going to make decisions instead of just staying stuck in indecision, how are you going to make them?

One of the best things you can do is make decisions ahead of time. When you do this, you’re able to much more clearly see your true wants. Then when you’re in the moment of the final decision, you’re faced with the opportunity to eat or not to eat, you can just decide to follow through on what you already decided.

This will help you relieve so much mental chatter about what to do. The confusion of being unsure takes up way too much time and mental space. Don’t be confused, just do what you decided already. Done.

If you’re not deciding ahead of time and are faced with a surprise decision, think ahead to the ultimate outcome of your choices.

It’s like when you’re deciding to go to bed or not. What will happen if you do? What will happen if you don’t?

When you’re deciding to sign up for coaching. What will happen if you do? What will happen if you don’t?

When you’re deciding to eat the food. What will happen if you do? What will happen if you don’t?

The result is coming for which ever decision you make and once you become aware of it, you get to decide if you want it or not.

When you make decisions, know your reasons for making them and like them. Why are you going to choose each one?

Are you going to eat the food because you’re afraid of facing an urge? Or doubtful that you can overcome it?

Are you not going to sign up for coaching because you’re doubtful you can do it or that it will work for you?

Do you like those reasons? Do you want to say no to doing the work because you’re fearful or doubtful?

Just like I said earlier in this episode, you’re making eating decisions you don’t want to make based on your emotions. You’re letting your emotions drive your decisions.

But what if instead you allowed the emotions to be there and made decisions based on what you know you really want instead? If you were able to see that your emotions are holding you back from doing the hard things you truly want to do, things that will be totally worth it in the end, and you decide that you’re not going to hold yourself back?

That is an amazing decision right there!

And the last thing I want to say is to not spend too much time making decisions. You know what you want. And if you’re committed to getting it, you’ll do whatever it takes to get it. You’ll feel uncomfortable for as long as you have to.

When you leave your decision open-ended, you’re wasting your precious time by not deciding and taking action.

Decide and then decide it was the right decision for you at that time. Don’t second guess it. Take responsibility for it. Own it. Enjoy it. Enjoy whatever you decided.

So decide ahead if you can, think about the results of your decision, like your reasons for making the decision, don’t let fear and doubt stop you, look at the bigger picture, don’t stay in indecision, and decide that whatever decision you make is the right one.

Now go make good and rational decisions in less time. Think about the big picture and get out of your own way. Have a good one, bye bye!