REWIND: October 30 Day Challenge

Remember this?

Last week, I wrote about the my new 30 day challenge for October which was to eat half of what I normally eat. Pretty simple, but definitely a challenge. As I started out with this challenge on my mind, I found it really difficult. I would split my normal portion in half and put the other half away. If the first half was really yummy, I had a hard time not eating the second half. In most cases, I was depending on pure will power not to eat the other half and we all know willpower only lasts for so long.

My initial goal with this challenge was to really hone in my feelings of fullness. I thought by only eating half, I would be able to check in with myself and decide if I was still hungry or if I was satiated. The only thing I could focus on was eating the other half! The simple rule of only eating half put me right smack dab in the middle of a diet mentality. Diets tend to have rules that ultimately cause some type of deprivation. My life's mission is to break the diet mentality! Remember, I'm done with diets?? Following a challenge that causes food deprivation was going to backfire. Actually it DID backfire. For me, deprivation around food stresses me out. 

Time to rethink this challenge. 

The New Challenge
This month's new challenge is something that I have done before in the past and it worked well. I just had a hard time sticking to it. Sticking to it for the rest of the month will definitely be a challenge for me. And there isn't any deprivation involved!

Whenever I eat, put the food on a plate, sit down at the table and eat it mindfully.

What does that mean? No standing the kitchen chomping on a cold slice of cooked bacon straight out the fridge, no reading emails, checking Facebook or watching TV while eating. Just sit at my table and focus on the food in front of me. Why this is so hard, I have no idea, but when I did this faithfully for a few weeks, I was really able to tell when I had enough to eat. Sometimes, I did leave half the food on the plate. Other times, I ate the entire plate, but it's not the amount of food that I'm focusing on. The focus is on the food that is going into my body. 

Did you know that when you eat with distractions (i.e. reading a magazine or at your desk), your food doesn't digest properly? Well it doesn't. When you are distracted, you also miss the cue your body gives you that you are full and satisfied so you keep on eating until you're stuffed. 

I now have a new note at my table to remind me of some cues while eating my meals. 

Actually this is an old 3x5 card, I wrote it out when I was practicing this before. Somehow, I stopped referring to it before it actually became a habit. This is my renewed focus for the month. Go me go! 

If you're interested in learning more about eating for pleasure aka Vitamin P, I highly recommend reading The Slow Down Diet. I am going to read it again myself this month to remind me why it's so important to eat mindfully. 

#behealthy