What does “live in the moment” mean to you? When someone tells you to “live in the moment,” do you consider this advice to be a reckless excuse to make regrettable decisions or to be the initiative you need to take the often overlooked time to enjoy the little things in life? Maybe it’s more about making a plan versus “winging it?” Which sounds more comfortable for you?

For me, it could go either way. One part of me thinks it means throwing everything out the window that I’ve worked so hard for with an impulsive decision due to low blood sugar levels (yes, that’s how the mind of a dietitian works!). The other part of me likes to think that I live in the moment as much as I can by striving to be present and doing what some would consider “crazy” things like skydiving and outdoor rock climbing and getting piercings and tattoos. Ultimately I believe the heart of “living in the moment” boils down to finding freedom in your life that allows you to make spontaneous yet smart choices from jumping out of a plane to going on a dinner date with a new friend.

Recently a client and I were throwing around ideas for helping her stay on track with her PFC balanced eating. At her previous appointment we had considered the idea of tracking her P’s, F’s and C’s. She gave it a try and reported that neither of those worked for her because it made her feel restricted, like she was dieting again (YUCK!). Instead, she said she wanted to live in the moment.

Immediately, I felt a lump in my throat. I worried that this was one of those times when living in the moment was more of a “YOLO” (you only live once!) than a “stop and smell the roses” approach. Let me explain. The foundation of our PFC approach is our “Three-Three Rule:” eating every 3-4 hours to keep blood sugar levels stable. A big part of this approach (one that is critical for success) is planning ahead so you don’t catch yourself with low blood sugar (read: sugar cravings! Hanger!). We see with our clients more often than not, that when they don’t have a plan, they don’t succeed. So when she mentioned her preference for living in the moment, I worried that she’d be flying by the seat of her pants without any sort of preparation.

Thankfully, that’s not what she meant. She elaborated on her idea and said that living in the moment for her would be making decisions in real time instead of constantly thinking about what she’s eaten or will be eating later. This would allow her to enjoy her food, and her life (smelling those roses 🙂 ), instead of stressing about it.

It was then that I reminded myself that she’d been doing personal coaching with us for 13 months already—she’d made PFC a lifestyle and knew how to eat this way. And…she did have a plan! She fully stocks her three (she’s a pediatrician!) offices with dried beef sticks, nuts, seeds, nut butter, LARA Bars and has plenty of fruit and veggies on hand for her healthy carbs. She IS well prepared. What living in the moment meant to her is not getting nitty gritty about writing everything down and eating what she felt like eating at that moment in time.

She simply wanted to live in the moment. I love when my views are challenged and this example is a great one that supports why it is incredibly important to see each client’s situation individually and even come at it from a different perspective. Everyone is different and there is no one-size-fits all approach!

It’s also important to note that at the heart of living in the moment with your nutrition is a desire to experience freedom in food. SO many of you write to us, coach with us, and in other ways tell us about your food addictions, disorders, disparities, and other disappointments, longing for freedom in your day to day living, specifically regarding your food choices.

If living in the moment is something you feel you could use in your nutrition journey, take note of these three tips:

1. Know your stuff. The reason this particular client was able to live in the moment with regards to her nutrition was because she knew and understood the foundations to a PFC lifestyle. She didn’t need to write everything down because she’s been in practice for months and knew to always include a P, F, and C every few hours. If you’re not feeling confident about what’s considered a healthy protein, fat, or carb, take some time to familiarize yourself with a few of our other blogs, starting with this one.

2. Know yourself. If you’d rather not spend the time upfront planning what to eat, or take the few extra minutes writing down what you ate after the fact, no problem! Just make sure you do pay attention to how you’re feeling in some capacity. If you’ve got health goals, what’s the point in living in the moment (i.e. not planning) if at the end of the day the lack of planning led you down a few reckless roads, bringing you further from your goal of weight loss, healing your gut, or managing your blood sugar? Again, we love individualizing health plans, and we know that some of you are pros at winging it while others are not, which leads me to my third tip…

3. Embrace forgiveness. We don’t believe in perfection, nor do we want guilt to be a motivator for you. When you’re aiming to live in the moment so that you can develop a sense of freedom in your relationship with food, expect to make a few mistakes. It’s okay to not know exactly what you’re doing when you try something new, so be willing to forgive yourself so that you can keep moving forward rather than dwelling on the past.

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