I’m on the road for work right now; which means I often feel like I’m in less control of what I eat than if I’m home with the convenience of a full kitchen and a sous chef known as my wife (love you!). The hotel I’m at has a free continental breakfast, so I went there the first morning to see what a free breakfast entails. In short, there was nothing there that I thought was edible.
Sure, there was the cheesy eggs (powdered eggs) with hot dog slices that looked appealing, and the prepackaged muffins that somehow never seem to spoil no matter how long they’ve been left out, but if the buffet was a book it would have been called “50 Shades of Beige”. Everything there at first glance appeared to be food, however I think it would be better to call the options “food-like”.
As I sat there, contemplating whether I wanted a beige waffle with syrup, or a beige piece of toast with peanut butter, I realized that I wanted none of it. Instead, I craved colour in my meals, and food with ingredients I could pronounce. Luckily, there was a health food store nearby that had palatable food and in all honesty, I was able to get a great breakfast there for about $5.
I’m not going to lie it took me a while to get over the mental block I had with sacrificing the free breakfast; but would it have actually been free? I would have paid for it further in the day with my energy levels, mood and digestion! I also realized that as I left the store with my breakfast of hard boiled free range eggs, steamed veggies and some sweet potato cubes left me feeling physically satisfied and emotionally proud. We all experience food guilt to one degree or another with the dietary choices we make, and this one small decision to go out of my way to eat healthy had left me feeling as though I had really listened to what my body needed to start the day off right. We often exaggerate how difficult it is to eat healthy; we look at the issue in a “rest of my life” timeline and it seems so daunting. But really it’s a matter of trying to make a positive choice for ONE MEAL. Because that’s all that we are ever eating at any time; one meal. Choose to make a good decision for your next meal; don’t worry about thoughts like “will I have to eat this way the rest of my life?” or “If I don’t have dessert tonight does that mean I never get them again?”, because it doesn’t mean that. Our lives are made up of small decisions in the moment that add up in the long run. Make a positive small decision today, and see if you don’t gain some satisfaction from these small victories like I did!
Until next time,
Joe