Food choices…

I am experiencing that strange phenomenon where my sense of awareness is heightened because of a change I’ve made in my life.

I know you know what I am talking about: when you start the car buying process, for example. You’ve never noticed any green Honda Civics on the road before, but once you decide you want to buy one, you start to see them everywhere. It happens to people when they begin to look for a home. You notice ‘For Sale’ signs on every corner; you begin to think that everyone in the world is selling their home. That’s not the case of course, but since you’ve started paying close attention, your awareness has increased drastically.

For me right now, it’s my diet and exercise routine. Four weeks ago I started the P90X exercise program and the corresponding diet plan. The diet plan is strict, dictating how many portions of which foods I am allowed to eat throughout the 90 day program. I’m taking the diet seriously, and that’s where my new-found awareness comes in.

I’ve become super-sensitive to the foods around me. At work, I never noticed how much junk food there is free for the taking until I eliminated it from my diet. There is always a pastry or desert of some kind laying around at seminars, office meetings, and on the desks of co-workers. Before P90X, I wouldn’t have thought twice about picking up one of those tasty treats and stuffing it in my mouth, but now my eyes immediately hone in on anything that shouldn’t be part of my diet and signals my brain that there’s trouble ahead. It’s strange because I don’t think I am doing this consciously, but I suppose that’s how the brain works in these kind of situations.

At the grocery store, I swear I only walk down three aisles to find what I need. Our stores are stuffed with so much unnatural food, but it seemed so normal to be before. It’s almost difficult to find things that haven’t been processed, artificially flavored, or enhanced in some unnatural way. I think it takes me longer to shop now than it did before.

I can’t deny that I feel better, and it’s a change I intend to make permanent; nonetheless it’s funny to think about how the brain has to change it’s patterns when you make a decision like this.

Tags: P90X,healthy living,fitness programs,healthy food