I tried conscious eating for a week, and it has been so energizing for me holistically. From meal planning to cooking my meals almost every day, I felt full as I put some effort on what food I'll eat.
My next goal is to extend the planning to the more efficient way ⏤meal prepping! Thinking about how I would want to build conscious eating as a habit, it would be best to think of ways where I can maximize my time and energy. I was never a fan of fad diets, before, I did try but it only lasted a week, which I hated the entire time. Diet plans that list the foods I cannot eat or with every portion measured up to a gram, are never meant for me, I just know. One of the things I learned from this dietician I've been following on social media is don't restrict, add! What should I add to make my meal healthy?
For sure, meal planning is best done by consulting dietician nutritionist, but I only had one simple goal...that is to eat healthy. I think most adults who have tons to worry about would have eating healthy as their least priority. But isn't it a great food experience too if you'd be able to live long and healthy enough to enjoy what life has to offer when it comes to food. I hope that I could still eat the greasiest/sweetest food [of course, with moderation] when I'm old without worrying if my maintenance meds would be able to carry me through. So for me, conscious eating won't just be a week of meal planning but rather be a life-long investment.
How do I make it appealing? I make it cheap, easy, and simple. I try my best to stick to a budget (around $20/week) and easy to prepare on a work day's morning or when I get home from work. Healthy eating can be in different forms, but as for me, I just make it simple where I'm just required to have my macronutrients on my meals: carbs, protein, fat, and fiber. I have always enjoyed eating vegetables, which made it easier for me to incorporate vegetables to my every meal. Eating fruits was a bit of a challenge for me because it can be really expensive haha. And the rest were like staple food for me already: rice, chicken, pasta, noodles, wraps, cheese, and eggs!
Will this last long? I'll let you know. Maybe, in the next weeks, I would be able to give more details and share more helpful tips on being deliberate when it comes to daily food choices. And if you're the same as me, I'd like to hear about your thoughts too. 🌞