Post by SusieQ on Jan 13, 2005 8:41:18 GMT -5
Good morning, Core buddies!
To recap what we've covered so far:
1. The Experience of Mindful Eating: the raisin exercise.
2. The Magic Technique: One Mindful Breath Before Eating
3. Things that get in the way of mindful eating.
Today I want to think with you about some of the barriers you mentioned to mindful eating. And to make some suggestions about how to get past them.
The first thing I want to say is to make a remark about the process of habit-changing in general.
Here it is: LESS IS MORE.
Most people on a mission (say, to lose weght) fail because they take on too much, too fast, and like a Speedy Alka Seltzer tablet, fizzle out in no time.
The way to make permanent change is to make small changes, slowly, one at a time.
You'll notice I didn't ask you to eat a whole meal like the way you ate that one raisin. I CERTAINLY didn't ask you to eat ALL your meals that way! Why? It wouldn't work! It's too extreme! Heck, I don't even eat all my meals that way, and I've been working on mindful eating for nearly three years!
I did ask you to take one mindful breath before each meal. Trust me, that's a challenging enough habit to try and form! But it's small. It's possible. And it yields a very nice reward, if you do it every time you eat. Just one small breath.
So, when I talk about making other changes, if you're not ready to try them, write them down in your weight loss book for the future! Put them on the back burner! Better to spend two months just taking that one little breath than to take on another challenge and lose it all.
Having said that, here's my suggestion for today.
Review your list of obstacles to mindful eating. Is it the TV? Computer? Eating too fast at your desk at work?
For next week, pick ONE problem meal. Just one, in the entire week. You are forbidden to try and fix all your problem meals. ONLY ONE! No cheating!
Let's say, you decide your biggest problem is eating dinner in front of the TV. Look at your calendar for next week, and pick the lightest, easiest day of the week to try this experiment. Let's say, Wednesday, January 19th.
On Wednesday, Jan. 19th, you are going to eat dinner at the table, no TV.
Now here's where I have to take my hat off to dennes. She has actually done what I was going to suggest....good for you, dennes!
Make an occaison out of it, just this one night. Buy some flowers for your table. Put on relaxing music restaurant music....something like Enya, or Ricardo Montalban, or Joni Mitchell (ok, I'm OLD). Or the classical station on the radio....just something you find relaxing!
Tablecloth. Maybe even candles. It's only one meal. It's an experiment! Go all out!
Next, plan your menu. I'm going to suggest you serve three courses. Start with soup or a salad. This doesn't have to be a big production unless you want it to be. Open a can of low-sodium vegetable, chicken or beef broth and float a sliced mushroom or scallion in it, and call it consomme. Serve that first.
Next, serve your main course "a la Russe"....restaurant, not family style. Dish out the plates in the kitchen and don't bring the pots or casseroles to the table.
Finally, serve "dessert." Can be nothing more than tea or coffee. Open an orange up and fan the segments over a dessert plate, drizzle a few drops of balsamic vinegar over it and sprinkle with sweetener. Instant dessert. Or, serve a soft, juicy, ripe pear and eat it with a knife and fork. You get the idea.
Just do it for one dinner. See how it feels. Breathe.
We'll talk about what to do next.....later.
All next week I am going to ask "who tried this?" I won't forget.
Now you can do the same kind of process for other problem situations. Say, eating over your desk at work.
Try eating at a table at work for JUST ONE MEAL. No computer, no work open in front of you. We Americans are going to make ourselves SICK the way we work! Set a timer for 20 minutes. Don't tell me you can't take 20 minutes for lunch even just ONE TIME! If you can't, you need to file a grievance! Or get a new job! Most of us who claim this....the "can't" originates in our own minds. I know...I used to run a psychiatric emergency room. I was the biggest adrenaline junkie you can imagine. Emergency room doctors are like that! But even in that setting, I could have taken 20 minutes for lunch and the world wouldn't have come to an end.
If you are going to try this at work, the BREATH thing is critical. You have make it the most relaxing 20 minutes of your day. Tell yourself, "Susie said I have to really 20 minutes OFF for lunch, not suffer because I'm not eating over my desk." Breathe. Breathe again.
It's only one meal, right? What do you have to lose, except weight???
Spend today thinking about your life, and begin to plan for your ONE DAY ONLY dining special! Tell me what you think you might do.
That's all I'm going to write about mindful eating for a while. Tomorrow I'm going to write about something else. But I will be curious to know how the ONE DAY ONLY special turns out....I will keep asking...
Namaste!
Susie
To recap what we've covered so far:
1. The Experience of Mindful Eating: the raisin exercise.
2. The Magic Technique: One Mindful Breath Before Eating
3. Things that get in the way of mindful eating.
Today I want to think with you about some of the barriers you mentioned to mindful eating. And to make some suggestions about how to get past them.
The first thing I want to say is to make a remark about the process of habit-changing in general.
Here it is: LESS IS MORE.
Most people on a mission (say, to lose weght) fail because they take on too much, too fast, and like a Speedy Alka Seltzer tablet, fizzle out in no time.
The way to make permanent change is to make small changes, slowly, one at a time.
You'll notice I didn't ask you to eat a whole meal like the way you ate that one raisin. I CERTAINLY didn't ask you to eat ALL your meals that way! Why? It wouldn't work! It's too extreme! Heck, I don't even eat all my meals that way, and I've been working on mindful eating for nearly three years!
I did ask you to take one mindful breath before each meal. Trust me, that's a challenging enough habit to try and form! But it's small. It's possible. And it yields a very nice reward, if you do it every time you eat. Just one small breath.
So, when I talk about making other changes, if you're not ready to try them, write them down in your weight loss book for the future! Put them on the back burner! Better to spend two months just taking that one little breath than to take on another challenge and lose it all.
Having said that, here's my suggestion for today.
Review your list of obstacles to mindful eating. Is it the TV? Computer? Eating too fast at your desk at work?
For next week, pick ONE problem meal. Just one, in the entire week. You are forbidden to try and fix all your problem meals. ONLY ONE! No cheating!
Let's say, you decide your biggest problem is eating dinner in front of the TV. Look at your calendar for next week, and pick the lightest, easiest day of the week to try this experiment. Let's say, Wednesday, January 19th.
On Wednesday, Jan. 19th, you are going to eat dinner at the table, no TV.
Now here's where I have to take my hat off to dennes. She has actually done what I was going to suggest....good for you, dennes!
Make an occaison out of it, just this one night. Buy some flowers for your table. Put on relaxing music restaurant music....something like Enya, or Ricardo Montalban, or Joni Mitchell (ok, I'm OLD). Or the classical station on the radio....just something you find relaxing!
Tablecloth. Maybe even candles. It's only one meal. It's an experiment! Go all out!
Next, plan your menu. I'm going to suggest you serve three courses. Start with soup or a salad. This doesn't have to be a big production unless you want it to be. Open a can of low-sodium vegetable, chicken or beef broth and float a sliced mushroom or scallion in it, and call it consomme. Serve that first.
Next, serve your main course "a la Russe"....restaurant, not family style. Dish out the plates in the kitchen and don't bring the pots or casseroles to the table.
Finally, serve "dessert." Can be nothing more than tea or coffee. Open an orange up and fan the segments over a dessert plate, drizzle a few drops of balsamic vinegar over it and sprinkle with sweetener. Instant dessert. Or, serve a soft, juicy, ripe pear and eat it with a knife and fork. You get the idea.
Just do it for one dinner. See how it feels. Breathe.
We'll talk about what to do next.....later.
All next week I am going to ask "who tried this?" I won't forget.
Now you can do the same kind of process for other problem situations. Say, eating over your desk at work.
Try eating at a table at work for JUST ONE MEAL. No computer, no work open in front of you. We Americans are going to make ourselves SICK the way we work! Set a timer for 20 minutes. Don't tell me you can't take 20 minutes for lunch even just ONE TIME! If you can't, you need to file a grievance! Or get a new job! Most of us who claim this....the "can't" originates in our own minds. I know...I used to run a psychiatric emergency room. I was the biggest adrenaline junkie you can imagine. Emergency room doctors are like that! But even in that setting, I could have taken 20 minutes for lunch and the world wouldn't have come to an end.
If you are going to try this at work, the BREATH thing is critical. You have make it the most relaxing 20 minutes of your day. Tell yourself, "Susie said I have to really 20 minutes OFF for lunch, not suffer because I'm not eating over my desk." Breathe. Breathe again.
It's only one meal, right? What do you have to lose, except weight???
Spend today thinking about your life, and begin to plan for your ONE DAY ONLY dining special! Tell me what you think you might do.
That's all I'm going to write about mindful eating for a while. Tomorrow I'm going to write about something else. But I will be curious to know how the ONE DAY ONLY special turns out....I will keep asking...
Namaste!
Susie