Food Coaching

Life coaching. Seems like everyone I know is a life coach at the moment. And doing a blooming good job at it! With every conversation every small piece of information is taken to a deeper and higher level of insight and inspection. Goodness, gracious.

At the Gym Changing Room
So I am talking to a fellow gym-er at the changing rooms at the gym and, as female gym-ers do, we started a conversation about exercise and weight loss. My fellow gymer informs that she’s got a life coach (here we go again) who sorts her out on exercising for her desired shape, dieting and cooking advice, and (wait for it, wait for it) life coaching. I almost tripped off balance. Best thing she’s done over decades, she told me. The life coach really makes you think about your relationship with food in the context of your outlook on life. Why does that matter? Why would I care to think about my food likes and dislikes within the context of my life? After all my life and my lifestyle is made up of so many thematic areas – from faith, to relationships, to career, to money, to family, to so many things. I was informed that there is a direct correlation. Okaaay. And I was invited to the next meeting of the Diet, Exercise and Life Coaching Club.

I must admit I was a bit dubious at the first meeting. The life coach met each one of us individually, talked to us about our diet and lifestyles, our goals and objectives for weight loss. It was a case of really deliberating on your eating lifestyle, the positive and negative externalities of that lifestyle, and the motivation for wanting to change the negative externalities.

Dieters Anonymous
But I began to give it some thought. And couldn’t really get my head round the whole thing. So I stopped thinking. I was given my food plan for the week, weighed and advised to give the life coach a call if and when I was facing any challenge with the plan.

The only thing is, on this plan you eat five times a day. Yep, you read right. Five times a day. Three meals, two snacks. You must eat five times a day.

I was challenged. Not that I don’t like food nor like to eat. On the contrary. Look at the size of me for a start...! But I really resented this pre-occupation with food. How could one be deliberating on food through the day? I am used to eating what I want, when I want. Not that I eat unhealthily mind. In fact I like to think I eat quite healthily on average. But I am on the go a lot and as such often miss breakfast, will eat lunch, and dinner will be if and when – usually something small - some nachos or plantain chips with wine when I get home. Yeah, I know. Don’t laugh. And, yes, I forgot, I may snack on something during the day – like a bar of chocolate, or some digestive biscuits, or a glass of wine with my lunch..... Hmmm, maybe not so healthy after all.

I did try to keep to the diet and exercise plan. I tried. I was good with the diet plan for three days, but failed miserably on the exercise plan. Which was surprising because I am an avid gym-er. I love to exercise. If they don’t see me at gym for a week, they call me! That was me – until I was told that I should exercise. Hmmm, get the picture of personality and lifestyle?

Food mapping, life mapping
So I started to think about me, myself and my relationship with food and my lifestyle to determine if there were any correlations. Life coach moment.

I began to draw out my mind map. I particularly love to eat good food. I much more particularly love to eat good food that is not cooked by me. I much much much more love to eat good food over a glass of wine preferably in the company of friends and family that I truly love. Anything else is just a bother.

Then I had a bingo moment.

Maybe all those years at boarding school, sitting down to eat three (and they were good, wholesome, healthy) meals at day, in the company of friends had had its impact. Moreso, we had proper break and tea time – two a day. It was tea and biscuits, or tea and sandwiches – all made by someone else, of course.

Deliberated Moments. The Experience of Food
But I guess what I appreciated about those moments was that they were deliberated moments. Particularly at weekends, we had to dress for dinner. Have a shower and change for dinner. It was almost like a regime. Adult now, and on the go most of the time, I don’t really make a fuss for meal times. Meal times are not chronicled to speak. I do it as and when – on the go in content and time. Less those moments when I lunch or dine out or in with friends, family or clients. Now, those are the food moments that I really enjoy. The laid table. The company. The wine. The service. The quality food. The courses. The atmosphere. The experience. Things being done properly. That was it. I enjoy the experience of food with some or all of those elements.

So you like to make a meal of food? Yes, I responded.

On The Order of Things
Then it struck me. Things being done properly. The order of things. Thought. Atmosphere. Experience. Enjoyment. Delight. Satisfaction. Hmm. Yes, these strike a chord. For I appreciate order. Doing the right thing. At work, at play, in life. No half measures. If it’s got to be done, do it right, do it well. Even when I go running at the weekends its on a scenic route. I find the whole experience not only refreshing but inspirational. I think, I pray and I relax. For that hour, nothing else matters but the air that I breathe, the greenery I see and the beauty of creation around me. It is at those moments of calm and peace that I remember, bring to the forefront of my memory that I am truly blessed. Who was it that said that the secret to a happy life was continuous small treats? That happiness depends on ourselves? Our choices?

So maybe this life coaching thing is not mumbo jumbo after all.

And on the negative, wild side?
Well, I don’t like to waste time, expend time if it’s not needed. If all I am doing is eating to satisfy my stomach, I am running a busy schedule on a particularday and can’t spare the time of a meal experience, why can’t I just ‘junk’ it? It’s like shopping at the market as opposed to a supermarket only to save $20. What a palaver. What about the trade-off of my time, the wear and tear of my car, not to talk about the wear and tear of my body having sweated through that whole process of shopping in an African market when I don’t really have to? I mean, last time I shopped at a market for my vegetables, they rotted faster and I had to double wash them in a Milton solution twice over. Convince me that is not a waste of time.

We are all causes of our own effects
When I relayed all this to life coach, she wasn’t all too pleased.

When you say you can’t be bothered, well, who are you doing it for? It’s all for you. It’s all about you. You need to make time for you. Make time for the food that fuels you. Make time for your brand. Make time to be the person you want to be.

Selah. I got it.

Week two was going to be a better week. And I had learned a whole lot about myself and my lifestyle preferences.