Chew, Chew Chew til You Get to 22!

In which I read some books and slow my chew.

I am a totes eat first, taste later type of gal. Once at work I was waiting for a vendor to come and hurriedly ate my lunch. A co-worker asked me why I was eating so fast and I really couldn’t answer. At home I will rush through a meal as if I am in a race. My plate will be cleared and put away while The Bee is taking bites of her food and tasting everything. So it’s no wonder a week into the Let’s Get Physical Contest and I have found myself all ready to rely on the excuses of the past. Not enough time to exercise, sneaking food, “forgetting” to plan.

It’s no wonder that the scale has not budged.

This week marked the return to school and sports for The Bee. This means that on school days there we are out of the house from 7:30 in the morning and some days not returning until 8PM or later. On sports days we are running across the city to get to games and there is a lot packed in for the next seven weeks! Throw in the second job for myself, scouts for The Bee (she’s a Cadette),  school for me as well as the duties of running a house and this is a recipe for failure.

Instead of using this as excuse to throw in the towel and diving into a container of ice cream, I’ve been truly practicing Eating Mindfully. Way back in June I snagged a copy of this book during Book Expo America and it has sat unused on my book shelf. One day I was feeling particularly sorry for
myself and decided to give this book a go.

I must say that there are so many reasons that I find myself nibbling and grabbing and many times there is nothing to do with being hungry. I eat when I’m bored, eat when I’m procrastination, eat when I’m thirsty, to avoid the list goes on. Mindfully Eating has made me stop and evaluate exactly what is going on with me emotionally so that I don’t binge my way through the day.

There is also an app to help to help track your eating habits. It’s not a diet just a way to track your emotions when eating. I’ve only used it a few times and have found that when I pause and take a moment to really assess my mood and feelings, I eat with more care.

Now, the moments when I eat just to eat and mindfully eating feels like it’s a chore, restriction or overwhelming, I have found the second book shared by Dr. Albers particularly helpful:

Cause honey, not only do I deserve the chocolate, I deserve a huge whipped coffee beverage to go along with it, extra whipped cream and caramel sauce. There are days when I know I want, NEED that bowl of ice cream and the spoonful that I was meant to savor has turned into me standing with the freezer open and eating right out of the carton. There are days when I sip three sodas because, well because they are cold and I am hot and dammit the water isn’t cold and I just don’t feel like the work fooling around with the ice bag will be just for a glass of water and that soda fizzes its way down my throat and I am OK with that. But there are times when I reach for the open bag of pretzels that The Bee is using to pack her lunch and tell myself that just one (or three) won’t hurt and I can hear the excuse that lies under those words and I feel guilty and bad and sorry for myself.

This book gives simple, clear cut, advice to deal with all of these pitfalls and assures me that those times when I am making excuses for not following a plan *I* created or not allowing myself time to savor my meals that I am only hurting myself and, well knock it off.

Food stuffs in place, now to get Michelle Obama’s workout.

Slowly savoring,
-r

r’s note: Please know that I am using Amazon Affiliate links in this post.