Forget making resolutions. Create your food philosophy.

Your friends and family may have some idea of your philosophy about life, politics, religion and education. But do they have a clue about your philosophy about food? Have you even considered your beliefs and values about how and what you eat? Something to think about, huh?

Don’t waste time creating another new year’s resolution about eating better. If you want to make healthy eating a permanent part of your life, I encourage you to sit down right now and think about your food philosophy – or your personal beliefs and guiding principles about how you wish to eat and live and why.

Creating a food philosophy

It is important to be aware of your own ideals about food because it helps you focus on why you make the food choices you make. In order to live by a personal food philosophy, you have to take charge of specific areas of your life. For example, you have to set clear goals and communicate your priorities and preferences to the people you live and work with. You also have to put a plan in place that will support your success.

Establishing a food philosophy is no different than committing to any other personal regimen. Consider people who have developed a longtime meditation practice. In order to establish a meaningful practice, they had to set aside time regularly to meditate and follow through with their intentions no matter what else got in the way. You will have to apply that same level of commitment to your intention to eat a better diet. If you don’t put the right strategies in place, you will not get the health benefits you are looking for. The first step in your strategy is to create your food philosophy.

Starting Point

It’s time to hit the renew button and begin to lay out your strategy for starting a lifetime of better eating. Just because you were raised to eat a certain way doesn’t mean you have to eat that way all your life. You can change your eating style anytime you like. I was raised on traditional, Southern-style foods like fried chicken, cornbread and vegetables seasoned with fatback. So you can imagine how challenging it was for me to change my habits. But I did!

Small, meaningful changes in your diet can lead to huge improvements in your health and happiness over time. What you value is where you’ll want to put your energy. So the question before you is, “How do you want to eat?” as this decision ultimately defines how you want to live.

Here’s my food philosophy: I beleieve that food should taste good, nourish the body and preserve health.

So now let’s use the worksheet below to write yours…..

{Adapted from Quick Wins for Healthy Eating}

FOOD PHILOSOPHY WORKSHEET

1. WHY DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR EATING STYLE?

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2. WHAT IS YOUR CONNECTION TO EATING BETTER? HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR HEALTH TO YOU?

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3. WHAT WOULD MOTIVATE YOU TO EAT FRESHER, LESS PROCESSED FOODS?

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WRITE YOUR FOOD PHILOSOPHY:

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