Your mental well-being and junk food – what’s the connection?

Raise your hand if you have ever gone on a diet. (Go ahead, we can’t see you!)

Diets are horrible! As soon as we decide “this fill in the blank” is forbidden, what do we want more of? You got it – whatever it is that’s forbidden!

That’s just one of the many reasons that diets don’t work for long-term success.

Over the past 4 years, I have dropped and kept off over 50 pounds and it wasn’t from dieting! I have a little dark chocolate most days and boy did I enjoy some truffle fries the other day when I was out to lunch.

I didn’t say “Oh no, I can’t have them”, nor did I eat the whole plate. I shared it with my companions and REALLY enjoyed the few fries I did have!

AMAZING truffle fries!

What does this have to do with

The #1 MOST IMPORTANT THING

YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR MENTAL WELL-BEING

Everything!

We think about the food and drinks we put into our bodies, but rarely do we think of what we are ingesting into our minds and how that affects our mental well-being. And that is as dangerous as a diet of junk food and soda or smoking cigarettes.

With so much division in our world, one thing most of us can agree on is we have a serious mental well-being crisis. Part of that crisis is being driven by the media.

Bear with me…

Several years ago, I attended “Mindfulness in America” (a conference with leaders from the mindfulness and technology arenas). To a tee, they all agreed that our devices are intentionally addictive (like junk food.)

All the dings and pings of notifications are designed to give us a dopamine hit, a feeling of pleasure. The more we experience that pleasure, the more we want – and round and round we go (this is how addictions are created.)

I realized I had a very different relationship with my phone than almost everyone else in the theater. I almost always have my phone silenced – not because I’m so smart, but because I find the constant interruptions intrusive.

As a country, we are in the midst of the most divisive time of our lives.

THE #1 MOST IMPORTANT THING we can do for ourselves is to become aware of how our devices and the news are affecting us and then choose to take action.

No! I am not suggesting to ditch our phones!

I AM, however, suggesting we gently back off from mindlessly filling our minds with all the gloom and doom from the media.

HOW?????

Michael (my husband) and I agreed to a 7 day experiment.

In the morning, we will meditate, move and nourish our physical bodies with healthy food before we start scrolling through our inboxes and news alerts.

I practiced it this morning and it felt so good! I was over 2 hours into my morning before I was assaulted by the “doom and gloom” of the latest news.

Now, I know “one-size-doesn’t-fit-all” and maybe this feels too extreme for you to start with.

What would the next smallest step you could take to begin to make healthier choices regarding what we are feeding our minds:

• 5 minutes of gratitude

• 5 minutes of meditation/breathwork

• 5 minutes of movement

• 5 minutes of snuggling with a loved one (2 legged or 4)

Any or all of these choices before checking our devices will make a huge difference!

Like any change, as Rick Hanson says: