Managing the Mayhem: The Deeper Reason to Becoming a Mindful Foodie

Whew... over at My Mindful Kitchen we just wrapped up our 10 Favorite Reasons to Become a Mindful Foodie.

Anytime I share a deep dive into the My Mindful Kitchen method (MMK), I almost always hear from someone: huh. I didn't know it went that deep!

It's one of my favorite reactions, because it sums up the splendor of MMK! Take Reason #9: The Struggle to Plan Meals Efficiently.

On its surface, this reason is all logistics: we're talking planning grocery lists, scheduling out cooking, and generally planning ahead to make sure all our food is used up.

Yet if we really dig deeper, there's something else really special going on below the surface, too.

What we're doing when we're planning meals efficiently can best be thought of as “managing the mayhem”. So, it would stand to reason that the why behind it -- the thing that makes us breathe a sigh of relief once it's done -- is relaxing into the organization and feeling the satisfaction of accomplishment and job well done.

But here's what I actually wound-up writing:

By planning ahead, you reduce your daily decision-making stress and streamline your grocery shopping, saying goodbye to those last-minute store runs. It gives you more time for what truly matters.

See what happened there? The problem we were solving was around feeling organized... but the feeling it gave us ran deeper than that.

I noticed the same thing when reviewing reason #8 -- throwing away wasted food. We might start by talking about the logistical issue of wasting food... but ultimately, where we land is that removing the guilt and shame from throwing away food frees up emotional space to feel happy and uplifted -- which in turn gives us even more positive energy! In fact, I ended that reason by describing a lifestyle "that brings joy and a sense of achievement".

Saving money at the grocery store and feeling less frazzled around dinnertime planning are incredible benefits to becoming a Mindful Foodie -- I don't think anyone would argue with you there!

Yet my favorite thing about the MMK method is that we don't stop there: we're saving money, removing the frazzle, and moving straight into joy, accomplishment, positive energy, and more time for the things in our lives that matter the very most. ❤️ 🌱