I've been doing a lot of reading lately about self-improvement in general, but one theme that comes up consistently relates, IMO, to our weight loss efforts as well. That theme is that we often act out of past conditioning rather than present desire or need, and then end up wondering why we're unhappy. We're act unconsciously rather than making conscious, concrete decisions to support our own well-being.

With that in mind, I've started doing something to affirm my food choices, to eat consciously instead of unconsciously, to think rather than emote when it comes to becoming a healthier person. If anyone else wants to try this, I'd love to hear the results.

What am I doing? It's very simple...when I choose to put something, regardless of what it is, in my mouth, I tell myself, "I'm making the choice to eat this." I then give myself a good couple seconds to take a look at it and listen to my own response regarding the fact that I'm making that choice. By giving myself that time to acknowledge that I'm control of what goes in (and the eventual outcome), I also give myself the time to recognize if there's a "why" behind my choice, and time to change my mind before I start eating if it's a choice that I know deep-down isn't such a wise one. I'm finding, for me at least, that it's a huge learning tool. At the same time,I know I've made some choices NOT to eat certain things because of what I gave myself the time to understand before I took that first bite.

Anyone want to try this and see if it makes a difference?

I'm sorta doing this. I'm thinking about each food and putting it into fitday before I eat it (if I'm not away). Then I think about nutrient content, etc. Some days it works well, other days I'm still emotional eating. There is a limit though and before I started thinking about each food, there was never a limit.

"I'm making the choice to eat this."

Congratulations for taking the first step! It is so important for us to take responsibility for what we are eating and drinking. To many times I hear people say "My friends forced me to eat the dessert." "The candy bar was calling me." "This or that made me eat that food."

When you take resposibility for what you are doing, it is like a wake up call to yourself. The next thing to ask is "Is this food helping me to reach my goal of _____." If not and you still eat it then take the rap for eating it. If not and you put it down, hug yourself, give yourself a pat on the back, give yourself an imaginary point on the scoreboard cause you just did something great!

Take care.

fl_chickie -- That's a great lesson learned! While I haven't framed it that way, I think that's exactly what I've been doing, too.