Post-it Notes

On the side of my fridge, just above my drying dishes, is a post-it note. The yellow note has been up on my fridge for so long the canary yellow has faded to a soft butter colour; the blue ink has morphed into a gentle burgundy.

This note was joted down at least 4 years ago when I was trying to adjust my diet from primarily McDonalds and Food Court specials. To be clear I wasn’t dieting, my body was in the throes of IBS and I wasn’t doing well, something had to change and I wasn’t ready to resort to relying on pills in order to eat. On 14 lines I listed foods that would be good for me and I should try to be eating… at the time I was pretty proud if I’d have been able to place a mental check mark against one of the lines.

It’s amazing how over the years things have gradually changed, sometimes it was a conscious effort (breakfast being a prime example) and other times I was just making choices at the grocery store that I knew were “good.” I’m not one to deprive myself of food (see examples here and here) but when I was doing the dishes tonight I reviewed the list for what must have been at minimum the 500^th time. I mentally started checking off what I’d had that day (isn’t that what everyone does when looking at lists?) and I realized the list has been silently brainwashing me. I may not be hitting every single line everyday but I’m doing pretty damned good, so good it’s time for a little pat on the back.

This brings me back to the power of a post-it note. What could have been prettily typed or marked in the page of a magazine I took the time to write out and post in a place that I would see on a regular basis. The process of looking at that list was gentle in terms of changing what I ate, it was non-judgmental and I didn’t feel guilty if I wasn’t adhering to the list… it was just a reminder of foods that would be good for me.

In December I was thinking of actually dieting, instead I think it might even be time to update the list. Over the years I’ve found some of the foods I don’t like/bother to keep around and I’ve also added foods to my diet that are healthy and could easily fit. Last month Health Canada released their new Food Guide and I was pleasantly surprised at how well I was doing… plus it was a ton of fun creating My Food Guide. With the help of Health Canada and my own taste buds here's my new list;

Salad Stuffs – Spinach/Romaine

Fibre (40gr/day)

Mushrooms, asparagus, plums

Berries, apples, pears, orange

Salmon, tuna, shrimp

Flaxseed, quinoa

Tomatoes, avocado, bell peppers

Yogurt

Oatmeal, granola

Sweet potatoes, green beans

Chicken, pork

Olives, pickles

Barley, wheat berries

Kidney Beans, Black Beans