A Personal Food Choice Map: What Mine Looks Like

I’ve been doing Noom for four weeks now. I continue to really like it. The truth is, I generally eat too much. On a given day, I eat more calories than my body actually needs. And on the weekends, I eat way more than my body needs. These extra calories are being stored as belly fat, which research links to premature death. Why do I eat more than I need? Noom says building a personal food choice map will help me understand myself better.

What determines WHAT I eat?

The choices are cost, convenience, health, pleasure, visual appeal, time, other people, etc.

Here is my priority order:

1. Convenience
2. Pleasure
3. Health

My job is like a job and a half, so I default to what is convenient. I do a lot of “grab and go.” If it’s healthy, great. If not, oh well!

What determines WHEN I eat?

The choices are the presence of food, stress, anger, happiness, time, other people, etc.

Here is my priority order:

1. Routine
2. Presence of food
3. Boredom

I am someone who generally eats breakfast every morning, lunch around noon, and dinner around 5:15pm. I pretty much eat according to schedule, whether I’m hungry or not.

What determines HOW MUCH I eat?

The choices include other people, presence of food, evidence of consumption, serving size, etc.

Here is my priority order:

1. Presence of food
2. Pleasure
3. Serving size

If I’m at a party with good food, I will just eat and eat and eat! I am also someone who generally eats everything that is on my plate. I eat quickly and don’t stop until the food is finished.

Building a personal food choice map helped me identify some patterns in my life that I can lean into in support of healthier eating. For example, convenience is the number one thing that determines what I eat and routine is the number one thing that determines when I eat. So if I make it convenient to grab healthy food choices when it’s time for me to eat, I’m more than two-thirds of the way there!

Thanks, Noom!