Go out and get some groceries!
This is one of the things I struggle with the most. Maybe it’s because I’m a highly cognitive person, or maybe it’s because I grew up in Africa and North American grocery stores overwhelm me, or maybe it’s a remnant of my eating disorder past (or all the above?) but I absolutely hate getting groceries. Seriously, I will put it off for weeks if I can.
Right now the only food in my fridge is 7-day old organic mac n’ cheese that was originally made with 2-day old noodles. Yum!
This is a problem. And this is why I am writing this post – because I can’t stress enough how important it is to ensure you always have a full stock of food at home when you are eating intuitively. See, Intuitive Eating is all about giving yourself the freedom of choice – but what’s the point if you don’t give yourself any options with which to utilize that freedom of choice? There is none.
So don’t let the cupboards get emptied – or, more importantly, don’t let them stay that way.
And just as important as “stock” is variety within that stock. When my cupboards get low my eating tends to go a bit “off” – I don’t pay as much attention to what I’m eating or how much (or little) I’m eating and I tend to get into the “might as well finish it all off” mode, which we all know can lead to compulsive eating and bingeing.
When I don’t have enough variety in my cupboards, I tend to overcompensate when I am out. For example, if I let myself run out of anything sweet, when I go out I head straight for the sugar and eat beyond reasonable fullness. The same goes for if I run out of Mexican food options, or cheese etc. etc.
So maintaining variety within your cupboards and fridge is just as important as keeping them fully stocked.
I get it, though. Sometimes life gets stressful, or time gets away on us, or the grocery store is a horribly terrifying place filled with items that trigger memories we’d rather forget about. But you have to live in the present. How you ate yesterday doesn’t matter or the months or years before; how you eat today is what matters – and if that means re-prioritizing things for the sake of health then do it. It’s worth it, and you’re worth it.
There is always time.
And with that being said I’m off to go buy some groceries…
See you next week - new articles go up every Monday!
______
Twitter: @lauren_b_sag
This is such an important piece of intuitive eating that I sometimes have trouble with, as my university isn’t close to a grocery store and I usually cook all my meals. Definitely need to be more thoughtful about when I schedule trips. Thanks for sharing 🙂