Well...

Greetings from Richmond, VA.  Work is going well.  A great last few days.  Great customers, nice city.  I found a dress for an event I have next month, and I got to have a nice long conversation with a friend I don't get to chat with very often.  One of those people who just energizes you, gives you lots to think about and laugh about.  I'm lucky to have people in my life like that.  I want to be that person for others.

I had dinner tonight at Cracker Barrel because the Wednesday special is a Chicken and Cheese Broccoli bake, and it's great.  Add some vegetables in there, and dinner is served.

I'm doing this mindful eating program through work, and I attended a webinar with the doctor who created the program last night.  She's pretty impressive.  She maintains that fundamentally, diets don't work because they reinforce the bad habits of reactive eating and restrictive eating, and they suppress your instinctive eating impulses.  That is to say, she thinks you should listen to your body.  Eat when you're hungry, and don't eat when you aren't.  Sounds simple, right? Well, for most people, yeah.  For those of use who are reactive eaters (like me), we eat when we aren't hungry because we don't take the time to figure out what it is that we really need when we use food as a stop-gap.  I eat a lot when I'm anxious - and that's salty/crunchy.  I eat carbs when I want comfort and sweets when I'm lonely.  And I'm typically not actually hungry when I do this.

So now, I slow down, I think, "Ok, those doughnuts are gorgeous, but am I hungry?"  And usually the answer is, no, I'm not but I feel X and I think a doughnut would distract me from feeling X.  And that works temporarily, but then, I feel bad about eating, I over correct by being too restrictive, and then I feel deprived, which leads to binge habits and so on...

Yes, I am drinking the Kool-Aid, but it works.  I went to the store tonight and I walked back and forth examining the candy.  But here's the thing.  I ate dinner.  A normal, slow, healthy but satisfying dinner. And so, I didn't feel hungry, and I didn't feel like I deserved candy to feel better or finish off my day, or keep me company.  And I'm fine.  I feel good.  I ate plenty.   I still stayed within a reasonable calorie intake.

So, we'll see if it makes a difference.  I'm willing to try.  I mean, it's not *bad* for me.

But I know me talking about my diet is second only to me talking about my weird dreams in terms of how boring they are.

Yeah. So, that's kind of it from here.

Tomorrow - training, more training, and perhaps a trip to Kohl's.  Do I dare disturb the universe?

I do.  Clearly.

XO,
ae




Comments