Eat-2-Liv Week 2

Well, I had planned to write a few more blogs this weeks.  I have a lot of random thoughts regarding food, eating right, being healthy, exercising and so forth.  But, Matt's iTunes went down this week and he was spending a lot of time on the computer trying to fix it.  Also, the time I would normally have during the day to blog is now being spent exercising with y sister-in-law.   I'm still trying a adjust my schedule to exercising at a different time of day.  It's working well, I just haven't rearranged my schedule to fit all the other stuff in elsewhere.  It's one of my eternal struggles.

So, back to the program.  I step on the scale tomorrow to see how week 2 went.  The good news is that I lost 2 pounds during week 1.  The bad news is that it was the same 2 pounds that I gained the week before I started this program trying to rid my kitchen of Christmas treats... by eating them.  Hopefully this week I will drop below my Christmas treat binge weight.  The other good news is that I feel good about what I am doing, and whether I'm imagining it because I feel like I'm accomplishing something, or it's real, my pants seem to be fitting looser.  Yay!  I really think that when I eat a lot of sugary foods and white breads it just makes me pudgier.  When I eat more nutrient dense foods, I am more slim.  No matter what my weight is.

This week we focused on eating mindfully.  It's something that I need to work on.  A lot of times I eat because it's time to eat and we need to get our meal done to get all the other things done we need to.  I especially eat this way with treats.  I sit in front of the TV and munch without paying attention to what I'm eating or how it tastes.  I think some of my dissatisfaction with food could be solved if I ate more mindfully and actually tasted my food.  Then I would enjoy it more and realize that I have eaten so I don't feel like I need a treat 10 minutes after dinner ends.  I've also been paying attention to how full I am.  And, realizing that I don't feel good when I stuff myself.  So, if I am pleasantly full after I eat, to pay attention to that and not put more into my body that I won't really enjoy.

I realized that if I eat well-balanced meals, I can regulate my hunger more easily.  If I'm snacking or eating small meals, it takes a lot more thought and planning to make sure I get enough of the right foods.  I've noticed it's really easy to snack on a grain or protein, or fruit.  Most of my snacks fit into the same area.  Vegetables are definitely my hardest thing to get extras of.

One thing I worked on this week is trying to work in neutral foods and snacks.  I know that I will go through times when I just want to eat to eat something, or want a snack.  So, to think of a life without snacks or treats, is hard for me imagine.  I know that to make this a lifestyle change, I will have to get over the thoughts that, "When I'm done with this program I can do that again...".  So, I need to figure out how to have an occasional treat or to eat because I feel like it.  This week I have tried to allow myself to do that.  With the stipulation that I first choose healthy foods, then neutral foods.  I try to tune into what my body really wants so that when I finish eating, I feel satisfied.  I think it has gone well.  I learned that I don't have to have a treat and I can still be satisfied.