Beyond Food Blocks

My first homework assignment for school was to keep a Food Journal for 7 days recording not only foods & beverages, but energy level, mood, location, duration and with whom you were dinning. As someone who regularly keeps a food journal, I wasn't sure what, if anything, I could gain from this assignment. Yet, in just a few days of journaling, I learned things about myself that were completely under my radar.

Upon examining the content of my diet, a few things really stood out to me. First, I noted a distinct relationship between the location of my meals and my energy level and attitude during and after that meal. For example, a good portion of my meals were consumed in my car while I was rushing to get somewhere. These meals left me unsatisfied and a bit stressed out as I attempted to drive while eating. Conversely, the meals that I made at home and enjoyed in the company of my loved ones were much more pleasurable. These meals had a positive and immediate effect on my energy level and mood.

As the week progressed, I noticed that I consume a lot more coffee than I thought I did.
This prompted me to try to reduce my consumption of coffee. I've always been a bit of a coffee aficionado, and didn't see my love of coffee as an addiction to caffeine until I removed it from my diet. In the beginning, I simply cut my daily intake from four cups to one. Then when I felt ready, I replaced my cup of joe with black tea and finally switched to green. It was particularly challenging at work because it gets brewed throughout the day and the aroma fills the office inviting us all to take it in. I found that drinking tea helped a lot, and now my cravings are almost entirely gone. My addiction to coffee really became obvious when the coffee was replaced with the intense headaches that are commonly linked with caffeine withdrawals. The headaches persisted for two days, but were worth kicking the habit.

The past 7 days were really insightful mostly because of the detailed structure of the Bauman Food Journal. It encompasses far more than just meal content providing a holistic view of the daily care for ones body. For me, it was recording the location and people with whom I was eating that helped me see how these seemingly minor details can have a significant impact on my overall well being.