A yoga class after a meatball grinder showed him how full and uncomfortable his body felt. He realized he'd been eating the same way his whole life but never noticed because he was distracted. Now he pays attention to how food makes him feel: inflammation, fullness, low energy. That awareness alone changed what he eats.
Chapters
The realization that made me eat better. There was one moment when I was losing weight that really stands out in my memory as a defining moment that really forced me to start eating better. And so what happened is I remember I had begun doing yoga at night. And that evening for dinner, I had had a meatball grinder, a large one, not unusual for that time. And so I ate it, and then I was doing whatever I was doing, and then I went and sat to do yoga. And I remember sitting in that room quietly by myself and being amazed at just how bad I felt. I felt so full. I couldn't do yoga. I couldn't really stretch. I felt very, very uncomfortable. And what dawned on me is I said, I eat this way all the time. I've eaten this way my whole life. Why does it feel so bad right now? And what I realized, it's because usually what I was doing was distracting myself. I was watching tv and I wasn't paying attention to what was going on in my body. So it was absolutely shocking to realize this is how my body feels every time I eat this way. And I have never noticed it. So from that point forward, I was much more aware and in tune with what the effect was physically on my body almost immediately after I finished eating. And I've seen this work over and over for clients of mine, that once you develop some sensitivity, never mind beating yourself up, once you quiet down, relax and stay present with your body after you've overeaten, after you've eaten the wrong foods, you can feel firsthand the inflammation, the discomfort, the fullness, the lack of energy. It's right there. And so if you focus on that, you will naturally and automatically begin to make healthier food choices.
