Changing behavior begins with awareness, we all know that.  Keeping a food log (commonly suggested by nutritionists) yields data.  Numbers (ounces, calories) can be useful for quantitative analysis.

But keeping a food diary also tends to trigger shame.

And it’s boring.

I decided to try a more playful, compassionate, non-shaming path.

I began with the idea that when I wanted to eat something, I would draw an image of the food item.  I would play with colors and talk to the food/myself about what I was thinking and feeling at that moment; creating drawings with words wrapped around them and inside of them.

Like so many people, I’ve spent years caught in a cycle of self-loathing, regarding my eating habits and my body.  These negative judgements have been reinforced by contemporary culture.  After decades of struggle to change my eating habits, I finally realized that being compassionate toward myself might take me further toward unlocking those habits than self-hatred has.  Duh.

So, with this new understanding, I began drawing my Eating Art Work.

Move on to the EAW blog.