I’ve been pretty good lately, paying attention to what I eat – not in an over-controlling way, but in a conscious effort to make the smarter choices, to honour my body and make digesting easier. As you may or may not know, certain foods stimulate and slow down (or bring to a complete hault!) your body’s ability to digest properly; while it’s true that prunes do help you “go”, and cheese does tend to clog up the pipes, there are other foods that – in combination or even alone – provide the same effects (it’s all about your own body’s ability to handle what you choose to put into it.) While this isn’t a note about elimination (per se) – all in all I do try to make better choices so that whatever I eat, food isn’t a burden on my system, and doesn’t overload and tax it’s efficiency in getting rid of toxins and waste, overall. (This, truly, is the essence, the reason, and the ultimate goal with eating in a mindful way!) I know that most people don’t think this way, and eat whatever, whenever, however. Gone are my “university days”, when I could (or rather, I did) eat copious amounts of pizza, subs/pitas, and/or chinese food after drinking at the bar with friends for several hours, or testing my body’s ability to participate in (often self-imposed and proposed) eating contests, just for the thrill of seeing how much I could tolerate and impress a crowd. I can’t believe what I’ve put my body through, and how I “checked out” when it came to acknowledging what I put into my mouth – but further – it’s hard for me to imagine that some people still walk through life without this type of body-awareness, and are surprised when unsavory conditions and illness are discovered. But I digress….

Today I was feeling super-human, and I made some poor meal choices just because I felt I could. I can already tell where my mind is going, and how I’m feeling because of them (not the worst, but not the best, either.) I’m not one for adhering to a victim-mentality, into a stream of guilt or shame around what I eat (I take full responsibility for downing that pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream… okay, so it was a little more than a pint!) but I do know that when I do slip now and then, I tend to feel as though I “should’ve” made a better choice, and I kick myself around a bit. Obviously, my quick recovery is that I will make an effort next time to remember how I’m feeling in this or that moment, to avoid a repeat – but again, sometimes the ol’ willpower ain’t what she used to be. (I should note – I’m not one of those girls that eats salad 24/7, says I’m full after one M&M, and beats herself up for eating solid foods in general. As I said initially – I love to eat. “Too much” is my middle name, and that’s where this problem for me lies!)

I know that my body and I share the love of certain foods, and there are foods we just don’t see eye to eye on, still; sometimes all those rules get thrown out the window, and eating “just happens”. What types of situations make us throw caution to the wind, and abandon our better judgement when it comes to food? Why does food (not unlike sex!) have this innate power over us? What patterns, if any, do you notice in your life that lead you to make the same food choices time and time again? What effects and emotions are felt, if any, as a result of the blurred lines between your better judgement and willpower?