Creating Your Own Food and Eating Protocol and Why It’s Such a Big Deal

If I had to attribute my significant and lasting weight loss to just two (of three*) things, they would be my food protocol and daily food plans. The reasons for this are that these two things put me in charge of what and how much I eat, when and where. Assessment and revision are always available to me, but giving up or quitting aren’t. To do so would be to abandon myself, and I’m not interested in doing that anymore. 

A food protocol is simple but extremely effective. For someone who has spent years and years, decades even, repeatedly trying and failing to adhere to someone else’s diet or food plan, this often seems hard to believe. 

“This cannot possibly work,” she might think. If what to eat, how much, when and where isn’t provided by an outside authority, she won’t trust it, because when it comes to food and eating, she doesn’t trust herself. 

This is when, for a person who wants to change her relationship with food, eating, her body, and her beliefs about herself, a leap of faith and trust are required. 

In this blog post, I discuss and elaborate on what a protocol is and why it is so important to create one’s own.

What is a food protocol?

A food protocol is basically a map, a guide to what a person will eat, how much, when and where. In its simplest form, it is a list. There’s no one right way to create a protocol. The first protocol I created for myself consisted of food lists by type – fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and fats, as well as exception meals and joy foods. I based my meals off of it. My first protocol didn’t include any when, where, or how much information. I used other tools for all of that. My most recent protocol consisted of meal choices for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, as well as my exception meal and joy food choices.

Why is creating your own food and eating protocol important?

When I create my own food and eating protocol, I am in charge. I take control of my food and eating choices. 

Creating my own food and eating protocol is a powerful act of self-love and self-determination.

I exercise autonomy and power over my own life.

I make decisions for myself. My control is internal, an inside job. 

I reclaim my power, as I am not giving it away to an outside authority. Think Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, or any other program that is out there, ready to tell me what’s what.  

I am my own authority. 

I decide what I will eat, how much, when and where. 

I listen to my body. What does it need?

I educate myself. This might include reading a book or listening to a podcast by a nutritionist, naturopath, or doctor. I might schedule an appointment with a nutritionist if I believe it is in my best interest to do so. 

My protocol is fluid. I assess how well it is working and serving me. I revise my protocol as needed, in order to optimize my health. If something is working, I keep it. If something isn’t working, I change or  eliminate it. Maybe forever, maybe just for a month. It is up to me. 

Creating my own protocol is a big responsibility. I cannot blame a particular diet or plan for not getting the results that I want. If my protocol isn’t serving me, it’s up to me to fix it. 

Ultimately, creating my own protocol is about trust. Do I have my own back? Why or why not? It is my responsibility to listen, learn, plan, reflect, assess, and decide again what I want and need. 

Creating my own protocol is an opportunity to listen to and honor myself. 

Creating my own protocol is a powerful act of reclaiming myself for myself. 

For anyone who has given away her power to an external voice of wisdom for years and decades, creating and honoring her own protocol can be scary. She must learn to listen to and trust herself. She must be willing to try new things, make mistakes, fail, pick herself up, rinse and repeat. With compassion and curiosity, rather than judgment and scorn.

When you take the time to create a protocol and plan your meals from it, you are engaging your prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that can make decisions ahead of time, evaluate what works and what doesn’t, be the watcher and see what is going on. Usually, we are operating on default – the primitive brain that wants what it wants when it wants it, and acts from impulse rather than a place of self-care.

For many women who have struggled with food, eating, and weight for years and decades, creating her own food and eating protocol can be a radical and profound act. One in which she says no, thank you to anyone else telling her what she needs to do. One in which she holds up her hand and says enough. “Thank you, but I’ve got this.”

If you’re ready, read on. You’ve got this. 

How to Create Your Own Protocol

Take out a piece of paper, grab a pen. 

Ask yourself: “What do I really want to eat?”

“What will nourish me?”

“What will provide me with energy?”

“What will make me feel good and give me joy?”

“What does my body need?”

Basics to Consider: •Your eating window – when you will first eat and when you will last eat

•Number of meals you will eat

•Foods you’ll include on your protocol

Then start writing. 

Read what you write. 

Decide what meals you can create for yourself. 

Ask yourself, “How do I feel about what I’ve created?”

If you feel joyous, confident, expansive, powerful, in control, nourished, and so on, that’s great. 

You are good to go. Give it a spin.

If you feel anxious, deprived, resentful, unsure, worried, or resistant, ask yourself why. 

My guess is that your protocol looks like a diet someone else suggested and/or implemented on your behalf. 

Revisit it. How can you make it for you, by you?

Let me know how it goes. 

I’m here to help you.

Have a great week,

~Jenny

*The third reason I’ve been able to maintain my weight loss is an upcoming blog topic. Stay tuned! 🙂