Awake and aware

"What might change if you took a five-minute break sometime during the day to reflect on your food choices?" my Weight Watchers meeting leader asked last week. She urged each of us to find a time to stop and ask some questions about how and what we're doing—questions such as "Did I get at least 10 minutes of activity? How careful was I about portions and servings? How did my snacking choices work out?"

Some members said a morning break would help them plan better for eating choices the rest of the day. Others said afternoon was a better time because evening was when they made poorer selections. Still others said it would help at night to review the day so the following day would be better.

There wasn't a one-size-fits-all. Each one of us at that meeting has different food triggers and different times of the day that present more of a problem than another time. So our plans need to be different. Our leader knew that.

She also knew how important it can be to stop and reflect on the choices we make. It's all about awareness, isn't it? It's about being accountable—to ourselves and sometimes, to others. It's about making conscious choices.

And that's as true in the rest of life as it is for food choices. More and more, I want to live awake and aware. As always, it's not about perfection; it's about doing the best we can!