When I started this blog, I thought that it wouldn’t be difficult to come up with content because of how many times I eat. Just one meal or even an ingredient can inspire me to start a long story about how it has impacted my life. However, I have come to realize that it is more difficult that I thought. Lately, I have not been so fascinated by the food I eat but it’s not because the food isn’t interesting or to my liking. I guess it’s a mixture of tiredness from daily life and a simple lack of excitement. At some point I started questioning myself – if I’m not enjoying every meal to the fullest then what am I doing?

The Importance of Consistency

At times like these, consistency has helped me a lot. My diet now includes a few different considerations on my part such as weight loss, anti-inflammation, reducing blood sugar, making sure I don’t eat food that cause gastric discomfort, low sodium, high fiber and high protein. While that sounds like a lot, I have built this regime step by step over the past year and a half. It also involved a lot of healing my relationship with food and body image. In the past, when I got bored of the food I had at home, I would be in the cycle of constantly ordering takeout, anticipating the first bite only to be bored of the food after that and feeling unsatisfied with my meals.  As I slowly got used to each change I incorporated in my diet, I worked on being consistent with it. Fast forward to now, I am able to control myself from ordering something just because I’m bored of what I already have at home. Even though I may not be excited about every meal, I focus on having the important nutrients in each meal such as some carbs, protein and fiber. This has helped me ensure that I don’t mistreat my body by indulging in something that would make me feel worse after (like having a stomach ache).

It Is Okay to Be Bored

Sometimes we subconsciously tend to live life in search of the next fun, exciting thing that will give us the most joy. However, that is not realistic. Life is filled with happiness, sadness, anger, fear, boredom and more. When we are in pursuit of constant happiness, we end up losing track of where we are or how far we have come and become unhappy instead. We forget how to appreciate the present or the blessings given to us by God. This becomes dangerous when it is tied to food because (in my personal experience) it leads to overeating, bloating and unhappiness. In the recent weeks, as I tread each day with less excitement and anticipation for the food I want to eat, I have depended heavily on what I know my tastebuds love. Sometimes it is okay to not be excited about the next thing you’re going to eat because life comes in the way. We are all going through different problems every day that our minds naturally wander. It might be difficult to plan our meals, let alone focus on and enjoy our food. However, making meals that I know I have loved in the past helps me feel satisfied after a meal even if I didn’t anticipate it. It is totally fine to be bored of the same meals or the groceries you already paid for but that doesn’t mean we should give up and replace them with food that is harmful for us. Of course, if you have the time and energy, it is better to experiment with different recipes to spark that joy again. But me personally, it takes so much effort to do that sometimes.

Not All Meals Need to Be Healthy

Even though throughout my blog I advocate for choosing food that makes your body feel good, it would be a lie for me to say I always eat according to that rule. Sometimes I get tired, I don’t want to cook. I end up ordering a burger and some fries or a pizza or chicken biryani. It is very difficult to completely let go of all that especially when I used to love those foods a lot. But I try not to be too harsh on myself. It’s ok to have a “fun” meal sometimes, as I call it. The feeling of ordering in on a Friday night and watching a nice movie or series, especially lately when it has been snowing and it feels all cozy and warm inside. In the past, I would feel so guilty for doing that. I would feel that my weight loss diet had completely gone to waste and that I should just give up and eat whatever I wanted. But if you think about it, it doesn’t really make sense. Why should I give up everything just because I had one indulgent meal? It took me a long time to understand that diet is not just a day to day thing. It all adds up. The excessive meal I had yesterday is going to become a minority in my entire diet over the next 6 months if I choose to continue with healthy options most of the time. Similarly, if I gave up on my diet just because of one meal of burger and fries and continued eating terribly for the next 6 months, I’m going to be sick. It is definitely difficult to pick yourself back up and continue on the right track but once you do that a few times, it will get easier to not punish yourself for that one meal.

Choosing Yourself Everyday

Whether your goal is to lose or gain weight, eat healthier, feel lighter, or anything else that involves changing your diet, the real hack is not to immediately cut out a whole bunch of items or add on foods that you didn’t even consider before all at once. It is to have the mindset of choosing yourself every day. What does that mean? I think it differs person to person but for me, it means to go slowly and make adjustments one by one to figure out if what I ate is something I enjoy, instead of giving up when I eat something that feels “bad”. It is to be kinder to myself when I indulge in something rather than berating myself and feeling guilty all the time. I like to think that there is always room for improvement rather than forcing the idea that I have to be perfect to show up and eat perfect food all the time. It is also important to note that change takes time. If you’re changing so many things at once, you’re bound to get overstimulated from making so many of these decisions at the same time and end up giving up on your goals. I like to view it like a scientific experiment where I change one variable and see how it affects me. I found that sometimes we may eat something that is bad for us but feels emotionally good while other times we may eat something that doesn’t really satisfy us emotionally but our body feels so good after. After I figured out what I like and dislike, what feelings in my body I enjoy and what I hate, sometimes even when I don’t want to eat something healthy, I know that I would feel more peaceful after that, compared to if I ate something that gave me a terrible stomach ache.

I hope that you enjoyed reading today’s post! I have definitely been feeling a little bit of a slump lately but I am looking forward to next week because I am flying back home for the holidays, InshaAllah! I can’t wait to have my mom’s food again and enjoy all the halal food back home. A part of me is worried because I don’t want to overeat (I have that tendency when delicious food is infront of me) but I am excited to update you on my adventures and yummy food that I eat during my trip. Or I may take a break while on the trip until I decide to write something again here. Stay tuned!

Love, Noor ❤