A Week of Eating Consciously: The Wrap Up

Well, I finished the week of eating consciously. It was a fairly interesting experiment although I now realize that I didn't radically change any of the habits that I've been developing since January.

But let's re-cap, just for fun.

First of all, I DIDN'T track food. Unless I found it important to that particular entry (like mentioning how good it is to eat local tomatoes and cheese), food choices were not (and are not) important. The whole idea for me is to eat what I want, but only when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full. Tracking exact quantities was therefore unimportant too.

The biggest realization for me is that I am already eating in what most would call "maintenance" mode. My weight loss is, for the most part, almost imperceptible. I don't know what weight I was at the beginning of the week. All I know is that when I did weigh myself, I was 0.4 kilos (or 0.88 pounds) less than about three weeks before. Although this kind of weight loss is not thrilling, I have learned to keep my eyes on the prize: the weight is coming off and I have the added super bonus of developing the most important skill: eating happily in a way that helps me maintain my new, lower weight.

I realized that it's not a lot of fun to eat consciously when you're alone. The newspaper and the crossword are my two best friends at the table and I went without them for a whole week. It was tough. I think I might start hanging out with them again, though when I actually take a bite of food, I will not be doing anything else. This might actually to help me to eat slower since I will be reading or cross-wording between bites. Hmm. Interesting.

I also realized that my little treats are important to me, but that I don't need a lot to feel that I've had enough. I do, though, have to make that conscious statement to myself: You've had enough. Leave the table.

I am also proud to say that I respected my hunger. I really don't believe that not listening to your hunger is a healthy long-term strategy. The only way to learn to eat (relatively) normally is to eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full. You can't stop when you're full if you don't allow yourself to eat when you're hungry.

And speaking of fullness, I realized that being overly full is not a feeling that I like. It happened once during the week (take-out Indian) and I'd rather avoid that feeling. The good news is that I didn't gorge myself on the food. It was just a bit too much and I felt it.

All in all, it was a worthwhile experiment, but now, on to fun things.

We're leaving tomorrow for the cottage. As I said a few posts ago, there will be no scales involved in the making of this holiday! There will also be very little Internet, since we have to go into the village to check it. I've prepared a few timed posts (one of which I really like) and might give in and write a post or two from the Internet café in the village. So please check in here from time to time.

I will miss the many blogs I read daily and will have mucho catching up to do when I get back, but isn't that part of the fun of vacation?

"See" you all soon. Be well. Be happy.

Love,

NewMe