The motivation to focus on conscious eating is most often given by complications in the field of health, the feeling of aging, the desire to eat more often seasonally and in accordance with the cuisine of the home country, choosing what is grown by oneself or local farmers, to lose some more or less disturbing kilograms, doing it without drastic diets and restrictions, to get more pleasure from every meal, cook more at home and experiment in the kitchen, etc.
For almost 15 years, I have intentionally practiced various conscious eating habits. Contemporary mindfulness and the culture of noticing (an approach to life and processes that is often based on scientific research, the search for empirical evidence to explain the mind and emotional state) have helped me both to live with various health challenges and to get rid of the troublesome kilograms.
My story. It all started with kilograms. Around the end of 2008, the beginning of 2009, when my weight (I’m small) was about 78 kilograms, I felt that something had to be done so that the clothes continued to fit, I could buy new ones on the principle that I like them, not “oh , it finally fits!”, bending over wouldn’t be bothersome either. While I was thinking, I had already reached about 80 kilograms…
The economic crisis had also affected me, I lost my job, and various not-so-pleasant emotions came with it… Although the logical mind said that there are such economic conditions at the moment (changes in the direction and scope of activity, i.e. the reduction of the position is inevitable), but internally it the “I wasn’t good enough to be kept” feeling didn’t leave…
I started exercising intensively three times a week in the gym (with an individual program with my trainer). With the feeling of a winner (already felt lightness), I went on vacation to England at the end of July 2010 – then my weight was, it seems, a little over 70 kg.
In about a year, with regular work in the gym, walks and thinking about eating (without drastic diets and feeling hungry), as well as reducing stress and disentangling my emotions, I got rid of about 8 kilograms (and grew new muscles!)! And what’s more important – I got rid of the flat tire and hip wrinkle.
From about 2009, various health problems started, which only worsened. To go to a doctor or have an examination, they found something there… There was quite a long period with strong medications and pain attacks.
Due to all the emotions, changes, health alarms, I slowly gave up the gym, but I continued to take frequent and long walks…I still do. I don’t count steps, I don’t use walking apps, I don’t write about the numbers of kilometers walked on social networks, I don’t participate in walking challenges… I just walk and enjoy the process because I like it; because it’s good for me!
In order to survive all the whirlwinds of health, it was necessary to learn to listen to the body again, to feel food – what can be eaten, what will be good, when and how much to eat. Learning to do all this consciously was a lifesaver. At least something I can control a little bit.
Contemporary mindfulness. Realizing that excess weight is not only about kilograms, movements, food and small daily choices in these areas, but also about thoughts and attitudes – self-acceptance, love, self-worth, emotions and joy of life, I became interested in how mindfulness actually works in action. I researched and practiced what it actually means to do everything consciously (calm down, listen to yourself, reflect on the facts and experiences I know, choose) and every day I began to see more nuanced the importance of small choices in all decisions, both emotional and pragmatic.
At that time, there was little information in Latvian about contemporary awareness, but I found one university-level course of lectures in English that could be studied separately, or done remotely. It helped me in my efforts to introduce awareness not only in everyday life, but also in very specific directions – nutrition, meals, movements.
Communication with yourself is essential! And I’m not saying this because of the slogan, but because I believe in it. One of my educations and also my field of work, profession for at least 20 years is communication. The message to others about the company’s or organization’s values, products, and services is so important both in communication and image building, and in self-affirmation – we and our products have a place in the market, society, and community. And is it different in how we tell ourselves (and others!) about ourselves?
Food also speaks to us – if there is too much or too much variety, if it is difficult to digest (we feel that it is rebelling, rioting!), even if everything is “tip top” (we feel pleasant satisfaction!).
If I remember correctly, by the end of 2013 I had reached my 60 kilograms, but the lowest weight I have been is 56/57 kilograms in one of the following years. Since then, I’ve also kept within about 60 kilograms.
However, my story is not about numbers and facts, but about feeling and experience. I did not observe drastic diets, but there were periods of weeks or months when I was physically able to eat very little. I didn’t count calories, I didn’t burn myself out by exercising, I didn’t follow pre-made meal plans, I didn’t take “lose 10 kilos a month” pills of dubious origin. And I still don’t.
Of course, feeling and hearing my body, there was a time when I limited certain products to a minimum (or did not use them at all), such as fatty meat, fried foods, ice cream, greasy cakes, freshly baked muffins, and I also did not eat burger-pizza-hotdog type meals.
Along with living healthier emotionally and physically, some health problems receded, resolved, subsided. But the digestive system was still spared, watchful and quite unpredictable. Only after the surgery performed at the beginning of 2019, I experienced what it’s like to live without pain attacks, “fast”, systems and anxiety that pain can come at any moment. Recovery was not easy or quick, but it truly changed my life for the better.
Today, mindful eating has become my way of life. It’s not about how much I eat or how I limit ‘those bad foods’, it’s about how I feel about my body and what energy it requires, what foods it attracts, how much portion is enough for it, what it is ready for meals. Not only to “fill” the stomach, but to give the body good quality energy, fuel. Knowing about additional nutritional needs (for example, topical nutritional supplements, vitamins, enzymes) is also part of a conscious approach to each meal.
And I’m really not afraid of a fat cupcake, because fear is not the best motivator! Prohibitions only cause anxiety and stress, for example, it’s fat, I can’t; (after eating a piece of cake) horror, it’s calorie overload now, I’ll have to go for a two hour run on the treadmill tonight…
Mindful eating is much more than just dietary choices; it is a conscious choice to care for oneself as a human being, for whom food is the driving and sustaining energy needed by both the body and the capacity and power of the brain.
What are the most effective long-term solutions for making healthy choices? Learning about yourself (physiology, treatment, nutrition, emotions, movements) and listening to yourself (with all your senses) gives you a fuller understanding of your body and mental health.
And not only that, learning in a sense also gives peace, because with each passing day you better understand and feel the body’s needs (when you need a break, when you can also indulge in what is not traditionally considered “healthy”, when to be in motion and when to get a good night’s sleep), to accept decisions about health and well-being become easier.
I am proof that losing about 25% of your body weight (percentages are more important than kilograms, because they show the benefits more objectively, I’m only about 160 cm tall, so in my case, about 20 kilograms in the minus is quite a lot) and not returning to them, can be done without for crash diets, high-intensity workouts, and salad bowls at every meal.
My story is also proof that improving overall health and getting rid of several health complications in a gentle way through changing habits is possible.
Is fifteen years too much or too little? Hard to say. Rather, it should be said that these years have several significant side effects – not living in fear and prohibitions, perceiving the field of eating as an opportunity, not a burden or another chore (what to cook!), own system for shopping, few food leftovers, because only what will be eaten is bought and many others.
Why don’t many challenges, health marathons, bought nutrition plans, slim stomach training programs, recommendations of various wise specialists work? Because we are so different, and the offer includes the offers created by others, the experiences of others and their “why I do it, or – I do it for myself!”.
But REAL QUESTIONS work, because they require you to answer not as it would be correct and polite, but as it really is at the moment. As well as objectively evaluate – what I want to do about it, as well as – whether I am really ready for it! Until you have the confidence that you choose to do for yourself and also learn, so that you do not harm yourself, the changes will be slow, ineffective or those that will demand too much from you, exhaust you and drive you away. And in the end you will give up on everything!
And the other important area that works – SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY. I didn’t really have one in the area of eating, but I did in the area of mindfulness. In general, I did, learned, felt… and it was a valuable time. But for many, especially extroverts, community and active communication are vitally important.
For some time now, I have been collecting my experience, systematizing what helped, and I think I can pass it on to others for their benefit. And this idea came on a trip to Switzerland, that’s why the photo moment of stopping and feeling peaceful in Vevey is so special to me. And a sincere thank you to my Swiss friend Evita, with whom I enjoyed great conversations, sandwiches on the shores of Lake Geneva and truly conscious moments.
In today’s world of coaches, mentors, masters of transformation and growth, life companions, I want to be a woman (myself!) with a story of my experience that can be useful to others.
That’s why the question is for you. Conscious eating – experience, practice, different tools to implement it in everyday life, supportive community. Would it be relevant to you?
Reference. It certainly won’t be some lecture course with an astronomical participation fee, but an intenseve self-guided workbook with effective methodology and valuable information, providing the exact system that gives results, not promisses. In it, by cultivating conscious habits of living and eating, answering the right questions, sharing stories of experiences, in a supportive atmosphere (also will be provided closed group for conversations to meet like-minded people), it would actually be possible to achieve the health goals that are relevant to everyone.
And here is a collage of several pictures for a look FROM-TO, that is, BEFORE losing weight and AFTER. With time, you get used to what you have achieved, so it’s good to see the progress! And to remember where I was 15 years ago.
