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There is so much to say about this topic.  Once we decide to eat in a healthy way something changes in the world. Suddenly we are invited to more delicious food events than ever before; dinners, lunches.  Biscuits and chocolate that we would never purchase some how seem to be in our shopping basket at the check out.  Visitors or relatives are in town and we need to bring in “supplies” of all their  favourite foods and we just have to eat out more often.  Our work place suddenly seems to have a birthday every day and there is office cakes for morning tea.

One of the keys to keeping yourself on the path of healthy eating is to keep the enemy out of the house

Personally, I do not have a sweet palate/ sweet “tooth” but leave me in the room with an open packet of corn chips and….. so I never have corn chips in the house.  I buy fresh corn chips at our local Mexican and I eat them and enjoy them – occasionally.

You see it is not about “NO, Never” it is all about some times and everything in moderation.

As I have written about previously, it can be quite challenging to monitor portion sizes in the food we purchase.  This is where our internal monitor is important. 

What constitutes your environment?

Home environment: You are totally in charge of what comes into your home.  And if for some reason you are not, what can you do about taking charge of what is immediately available to you?

My friend had a new house mate who always had loads of chocolate around and so she said “Stella, is it possible that your chocolate could go in this cupboard so that I cannot see it every time I walk into the kitchen?”  Stella had no issue with that – she just wished that she could share the chocolate!  With the chocolate “out of sight” it becomes less tempting.

Clients some times tell me they need to have biscuits in the house for their children. Really?  What habits are being established here?  You don’t want to develop the habit for children to eat unhealthy biscuits.  And if you do want to occasionally have biscuits, then buy one packet, take them on a picnic, or to an event with other people, and do not take the last couple home.

Remember, we are keeping the enemy out of the house; if it is not there you cannot eat it.

Fill your home with healthy food – bowls of fruit, healthy snacks, yoghurt, vegetable sticks.

Work environment:

Some of my clients say this is the most difficult; “there is always biscuits”“some one is always having a birthday” or “we all go out to lunch”

I actually found the work place the easiest for me.  People are not really  that interested in what you are eating at work. You are in charge.  I often acted as the hostess, serving the cake and helping distribute the plates– rarely did anyone notice that I never ate any, or if they did notice,they didn’t comment to me.

If you absolutely HAVE TO eat the pie, because Sarah made it and it is Banofi pie and she is the world’s best Banofi pie maker – I have to admit even I am tempted at this point.  Have a small piece and ABSOLUTELY ENJOY EVERY MORSEL!!!

Remember the “2 and a half bite and really enjoy it” philosophy….I’m never sure which is the “half bite” because technically every bite is one bite !!  And this is what Britney Spears has called her"three bite rule".

Hi Britney, if you are reading this!!

This “2 and a half bite and really enjoy it” philosophy is great for times when there is some thing really delicious that I know I will enjoy.  2 and a half bites and really enjoy it.  Previously I have written about mindfulness – that is what this is about.  Eat it and enjoy it and be Mindful.

I talk so much more about this in my 6 week work shops.  It is so much about our own Mindset.

At work maybe you need to move the biscuit barrel into a cupboard so it is not visible every time you walk into the kitchen.  Even people who do not like biscuits, tell me they eat them “because they are there”.

I have long been a fan of carrying “snacks”.  I often carry a bag of snow peas.  Again, I find that when I offer them around, people love them.  Or I have a bread roll, or a small sandwich, if I am not sure what the eating arrangements will be.  In the past I have been in training sessions and the morning tea offer is muffins, so my little cheese or peanut butter sandwich is just perfect. There are some nutritious muesli bar snacks on the market – just need to check the sugar and salt content. Some people are fans of nuts and dried fruits - be cautious with these.

As an aside - why are you snacking??  Are you actually hungry?? or just bored? or eating because others are?  Back to the Food Diary with YOU !!  Check if you are really hungry.

The people we surround ourselves with:

One of the women that I know well, who also works in the area of healthy eating and has been feeding her teenage children healthy foods for years.  Recently she felt like pizza and suggested pizza for dinner – her family could not believe their ears and gave her such a hard time saying to her: "What?!!mum!! you eating pizza?!!" "We thought you only ate healthy food!!" They made so much of a fuss that she withdrew the suggestion.    Months later she still says to me “that night … those kids …it was so funny”

Ultimately, we teach people what to expect.  I enjoy eating 2 chips and it is amusing when I ask my lunch partner “please may I have 2 of your chips?” – “what?? You?? Healthy Wealthy Woman?” and I explain the 2 is good for  me – more than that and I would be feeling stodgy and yukky.  I know a couple of you are wondering why my lunch partner is even eating chips, when eating with me; I don't try to influence what others eat when we are out.  People know how to make their own healthy choices.

Many clients tell me that people force feed them “oh come on … you’re not fat … just one little piece …I made it especially for you” and families are experts at this.  What some successful clients have done is to arrange gatherings and events that do not include food – walk in the park, setting the timing for morning coffee,going out rather than to some one’s house.  It is so much easier to stay in command of what you eat when you are eating out.

Another strategy that has been successful; when people are asked to bring a contribution of food to a gathering, they bring some thing healthy that they can eat. I have done this many times and it never ceases to amaze me that what I bring disappears the fastest.  People mostly do prefer to eat healthy.

There is so much to this topic and I do cover it extensively in my workshop.  I have decided to create a separate Teleseminar dedicated to Environment and how to exist is what can seem like a “hostile” environment in the early days of changing your eating patterns.

These 3 are the physical environments, there is also the Time environment –do you eat at particular times? For example as soon as you get home?  Before you go to bed?  We will cover this in detail in future articles and/ or Teleseminars.