Self Awareness to Improve Your Nutrition
March 31, 2022
To improve any aspect of your life, developing a practice that brings greater attention to what you are working to improve is essential. To deepen your self awareness around the food you eat and the habits you have, I always encourage keeping a journal or log.
This practice has really helped excel the progress of clients I have worked with to help them achieve the specific goals we set together. Oftentimes, that log is focused on food. Alternatively, it can highlight other focal points such as your sleep, stress management practices or activity levels.
Common Challenges
One big reason people fall short of keeping track of their health and seeing the desired improvements… logs are time consuming!
But the difference here, is that we are…
intentionally consuming some of your time each day with a log.
Logging for Self Awareness
Logging forces you to improve your self awareness around what you are doing daily. When you are deeply entrenched in habits or routines, you may not notice that you are doing things that hold you back. Having a practice that is brining your attention to what these habits and routines are helps you grow.
A winning athletic performance, sexy bod, or simply a happier and healthier you. These all require a deeper understanding of the habits that make up your health in this moment.
Daily Habits
You likely do something every day. You drink coffee first thing in the morning, you wake up and ignore your alarm a few times, or maybe you like to have lunch at your desk. We all are creatures of habit in one way or another.
Those habits that make up our day can be very beneficial! But sometimes, they can lead you down a path you do not care to go. Increased blood pressure, risk for diabetes, or simply aging your body and putting on weight faster than you would like are all potential outcomes of poor self care.
Building awareness of:
- what you are doing on a day-to-day basis
- knowing if that habit is bringing you closer to your personal goals or not
- learning how to alter that habit to work for you
That, is where the magic happens when we team up together.
Go Further Together
It is certainly admirable to make personal improvements on your own. I think that is something everyone should strive to do. But when you have a team invested in achieving the same goal for you, it makes a huge difference.
You don’t hit snooze after setting the goal, with me as your coach, to get up on the first alarm. Slipping on your commitment leaves you with the thought “I need to honor the intentions I set for myself!” Next thing you know, your out of bed and off to start your day!
It is much easier to brush off a goal that you set for yourself to start tomorrow. Every day that you brush off your goal, is another day you are stagnant on what you are striving to grow into. Sometimes you need a fire under your ass and someone to hold that fire there to get you up and running!
Stay Accountable
I think back to my time competing as an NCAA Division 1 track and cross country athlete. We ran A LOT of miles as a team. As a little freshman I would get up at 5am and ride my bike half asleep across campus to go run with the team 60+ miles each week. Practice was HARD. I certainly would NEVER have been able to push myself to the limit as much as I did during that time competing if it was not for my coach and my team to keep me accountable.
Keeping a log, learning about yourself, and working with a coach who will push you to keep progressing towards your goals is important. It keeps you accountable and honoring your goals, but a good coach will also support you by pushing you out of your comfort zone to see those bigger improvements that you just can’t always get flying solo.
Building Self Awareness
At the very least, if you are looking to improve your wellbeing whether you are a professional athlete or new to self-care, keep a log of what you are focused on to build up your awareness of what you are doing. Identify habits that are working for you and ones that might not be.
If you are still making slower progress towards your personal goals than you would like, come talk to me! Having a seasoned set of eyes on what you are doing, expert guided interventions and accountability can make a world of difference in who you are today and who you will be in a few months.
“Eleanor is amazing. I love how the focus isn’t solely on physical health. She’s helped me with my mental and emotional health. I was under tremendous stress, I hadn’t had a full night’s sleep in months prior to my first session.
After 2 sessions I began having a full night’s rest 5 of 7 nights. My stress after 4 sessions is minimal. Eleanor is very knowledgeable, personable and all around amazing. I would recommend anyone looking to transform their mind and body to set up a consultation.”
-Wanya Griffin
Eleanor Baker MS, RD, LDN
Hi! My name is Eleanor, I have a love for delicious and nutritious dishes, the outdoors, great people, and good times! I am a Registered Dietitian and an enthusiast when it comes to learning about health and how I can help others to feel their best. Learn more about living vibrantly on my site and take your health to the next level with a more individual approach when you meet with me.