There’s a thing I do with food. To not make things about food.
I decide.
It’s not always easy. But it’s simple.
And the more times I do it, the more often it is just easy.
In November I decided to intermittent fast and have my window be 9am til 7pm. Soon I decided to changed it to noon til 7. That felt okay until no behavior changed beyond the decision.
Enter more decisions.
The last couple weeks I’ve really driven into not only who I want to be, but who I am. Not only entertaining what my future ideal self would say, but also what I want to say right here, right now.
I don’t want it to be so grueling. I don’t want it to have to be so hard.
So I decide.
And then I execute the decision.
An eating window always benefitted me because once I had food, a switch turned on in my head and I couldn’t “off” food. I didn’t off food. But the eating window just shortens the issue. It doesn’t address it.
After weeks of thinking “what would the future, ideal Jill do?” and sometimes answering honestly, and sometimes fooling myself, I finally realized it was all just a stopgap.
It’s all important and I’ve needed it all as part of my journey. But I need something that feels more sturdy. I need something that makes all the chatter dissipate. I need the quiet.
Deciding helps bring me more quiet.
So I eat my meal and then I make the conscious decision “Don’t eat anything else for an hour.” And then I execute it.
I focus my energy and action elsewhere. I write or clean or play or move my body. I do the thing that quiets my mind.
And eventually I eat again. And then I decide. And then I execute it.
There’s no stomping or loss or grief. It feels like healing.
It’s not easy. But it’s easier than it was last week. And it’ll be easier still. I’m not ignoring myself or my feelings. I’m not distracting myself or skipping out. I’m just choosing to thrive in growth instead of drown in food.
It’s a perfectly imperfect system. I’m no robot. This is about being human here. I get tripped up and I go again. Getting back up is just as vital as decide and execute. Getting back up is decide and execute.
I know that in time, as consistency lends to routine, and routine turns to habit, it will be the foundation that changes the behavior, which is the whole point. It will be the answer to the question “what would future, ideal Jill say?” that I’ll no longer have to stop and ask myself. Because I’ll just know. Because I’ll just be.
TectonicDraft 