Functional Foods

You know what I love about the Internet?  Infographics!  Lately, it seems the web is bursting with 'em!  Not familiar?  Essentially, an infographic is a blog post in picture form -- love it!

I read this infographic the other day -- How to be the Most Organized Person in the World (who can resist that title, right?)

As a minimalist (or at least a moderate minimalist -- I still love my shoe collection), being organized is hugely important to me!  So, obviously, I clicked on this title to see what else I could do (because I haven't yet achieved the status of "Most Organized in the World" and how cool would that look on a business card!)

Anyway.... as I was reading the graphic, I noticed the author's take on organization all boiled down to:

• Understanding the function of each room.
• Removing everything in that room that doesn't contribute to it's function.

I worked on this a while ago, when I moved to a new home.  If I didn't love it or if it didn't serve it's purpose, it didn't get to take up space in my living areas (and most of it didn't even get to take up space in the storage area!).

We live in a land of abundance.  We have lots of stuff (honestly, do we need toys with our meal?).  We have lots of food -- both in terms of variety and quantity.

So, can those two ideas from the infographic work for something other than organizing your stuff?  Absolutely!

If you are mindful, you can determine the function of each time you eat: are you physically hungry?  Are you bored? Are you using this food to help you deal with emotions than make you uncomfortable?

It's not wrong to use food in any of these ways -- but I want you to understand the function of those bites.  If you're comfort eating, don't eat anything that doesn't contribute to that sense of comfort (ie don't eat the salad to reduce your guilt about eating a bowl full of mashed potatoes!)  Or, if you're eating because you have a packed afternoon but aren't physically hungry now -- only eat enough to serve that function.  You don't need to get stuffed!  A little to help you make it through your meetings will work just as well.

Understanding what is driving you to eat is critical to understanding how to alter your mindless eating so you can drop some of those pounds.  Understanding the function food is serving at each eating time will take you a long way towards being "The Most Mindful Eater in the World"!