The thing that has made the most difference for me

broadsword7

I have taken a whole new direction in eating. I know I will slip in the future but I am now forming habits that I consider to be very healthy when it comes to my diet. So when I do slip, it will be easy to get back to what I now know is right. I used to come home from work, stressed and alone, and immediately grab whatever was available and quick in my kitchen. Almost all of it was junk food, and I knew it, but I got myself in a rut. Occasionally, I would actually take the time to “cook” something, and when I did, it was usually pasta with a ton of spaghetti sauce on top. Every other weekend, I would order a pizza and breadsticks. That’s a large pizza, and I would eat most of it in one day. I could go on, but I will spare you the gluttonous details. At any rate, one thread always ran through whatever I consumed. And that was this: I would eat while watching the TV. Mindless and not paying any attention to what I was eating. So, the biggest change I have made so far besides carefully planning my calories, eating healthy, avoiding things that I now consider to be poison (sugars, breads, etc.), the biggest thing is eating in total silence. I hardly turn on the TV at all now, even after eating!

I have learned that at least for me, it’s not only what you eat but HOW you eat. Now, in silence, I take my time. Now, I savor each forkful of good food. Tonight while having dinner I was thinking about how the rice I was eating was grown, where it must have started its journey, what that place might have been like. I imagined fields of rice blowing in the wind and sun, perhaps also in quietude just like the quiet that surrounded me as I ate. And then all the chapters and stops the grain might have made until it finally reached my crock pot, and then to my bowl. I know, it sounds kinda flaked out and zen like, but maybe there’s something to it. I’ve already lost ten pounds and actually feel totally nourished and refreshed after a meal.

ari_27

great post! wisely said

cdez80421

It actually makes perfect sense to me, good for you!!!

tamanella

Good for you for recognizing that TV was too much of a distraction and would cause you to mindlessly eat. Way to go! Keep up the good work!!

juliapurpletoes

such a peaceful happy place to be!!

Stick with what that is and you'll have whatever you want.

Enjoyed your post...........................

glamazonjenn

for this and many other reasons I decided we really should just kill the television!!!! Now that I am not watching I can get a 2nd workout in too!!! With all that nourishment and better mental health you remember that there is so much more to life than the stupid box!!! Good for you! Cheers!~

zacherybinx

Definitely a great and insightful post. Thanks for sharing.

broadsword7

Thanks all for the kind replies. Another thought on this...I am trying to find ways to sneak out of work at lunch to enjoy my meal in the same kind of way I do while eating at home, in silence, relaxed and paying attention. It's sort of a communal "cubicle farm" environment at work. There is a break room that always has a TV with a game show blaring during lunch time, so I am avoiding that like the plague. Eating at my desk has its pitfalls, too, because of the threat of constant interruptions and also my own compulsion to just keep working right on through the meal. So I am definitely trying to make efforts to take my food and get outside. It comes down to my health being the most important thing...without that, the job and all it entails cannot exist for me. I guess it’s a mindfulness thing, but I am really starting to pay attention to it. Anyway, take care yall.

rmhand

I eat in silence too, its automatic for me to turn off my music and move my computer away. Definitely enjoy my food more. When I don't feel like finishing up my last few raw veggies I plop down by the computer and much mindlessly.

zoezoe11

Very well said! Thanks for sharing