Intuitive Eating

Like my counterpart posted, it is cold -- seriously cold. We've been spoiled by these 60 and 70 degree afternoons where walking and exercising outside if a pleasure. Don't get me wrong, I don't want summer to get here -- I hate hot and humid weather, but if it could just stay between 60 and 70 degrees I would LOVE it.

I will admit that I did not exercise Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. I did not hit the 5 mile a week goal I had set for myself, but I did walk 4 miles last week. I can tell a difference in how I feel by exercising more -- this isn't news, but I just haven't got off my butt in a while to walk outside. I had been playing Dance Central on the Kinect, but that's not as fun as being outside in the fresh air sometimes.

I have lost down to 290.0 as of this morning. I am at home this afternoon with a sick baby -- Thomas might have pink eye. It is undetermined. So, hopefully, he will nap so I can get some work done and exercise later.

I am now starting week 5 of the 52 week journey. I am feeling good about this. I have read I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna. The book is about intuitive eating -- basically, reteaching your mind to listen to your body's signals for hunger. To people who have never been fat, it makes perfect sense:

• Eat when you are hungry.
• Eat what you want. (Theoretically, this should be healthy choices!)
• Enjoy every mouthful of food.
• Stop when you are full.

Sounds easy enough, but most of the time, I find myself shoveling in food at a constant rate just to be able to finish lunch, get Thomas and give him a bath. Our lives are so jam-packed of things to do, when is there time to sit and enjoy eating food. Here's the funny thing, I feel weird and self-conscious eating in front of people anyway, but it's natural we all have to do it. In order to "enjoy every mouthful" I find myself closing my eyes and chewing my food until it's like so beyond mush -- which is gross for you to read, but that's how it's supposed to be, right? Duh, it's like 25 years and I'm just now learning how to eat. The other thing I find myself doing that helps me savor the flavor: listing at least 5-10 adjectives about each bite of food I am taking. I say these in my head as I am chewing to make sure I am enjoying every mouthful. It seems to be working. I am getting full well before I usually would. I am eating foods that I enjoy, not just the cabbage soup that I cooked just to lose weight -- that really has no enjoyable qualities. 

Will this work? Sure. I just need to get up and move!