Sunday 23 May 2010

152.4 --Journey Home

By Belinda

On the plane coming back to Canada from a two week vacation in England, I realized that a simple but profound change has taken place--somewhere deep and lasting. I don't completely know how or why, now, but here it is: I have become a "choosy eater."

There is more than a good chance that the change has some connection with the book I've been reading: Press Pause Before You Eat by Dr. Linda Mintle.

"Pressing Pause" is what I am doing. Each day my eating is now based on three things:
  1. A heightened awareness and attention to, how hungry I really am.
  2. Multipe decisions based on appeasing that hunger with food that is nourishing, healthy and satisfying.
  3. Weighing; thinking about; the cost-benefit of food eaten, i.e. is that utterly decadent slice of honey almond cream torte, worth the calories and moments of pleasure? Last Sunday, it was! I savoured every last morsel; appreciated it to the utmost and enjoyed the memory of it for days afterwards.
On the other hand, it is hard to believe, but I, until now a dedicated lover of fish and chips, only had one meal of fish and chips while in England, and that was shared between three of us! It was enough to have a taste of them and I didn't crave more. The thought of the fat drenched batter and starch, no longer held the appeal it once did, and I remembering that I am addicted to fat makes me want to steer clear of it in general.

These choices are an example of what is happening each day.

At the airport, on the way home, when I would usually be stashing away a few Cadbury Flakes, I bought a bar of nuts and fruit called, "Eat Natural, with brazils, sultanas, almonds, peanuts and hazlenuts...and nothing dodgy."

On the back of the bar it said:
Those of you that enjoy reading stuff on the backs of "certain packs" may be a little disappointed when we tell you that this bar probably won't change your life, and it certainly won't prolong it. Sadly, there's not much evidence to suggest that it'll make you more attractive. No, it's just a bar of nuts and fruit. Mind you, when it comes to taste...Eat Natural--Simple--isn't it?

I tucked away the bar in my carry on bag, and during the flight, when a snack was served with tea and coffee towards the end of the flight, I looked at the big double chocolate muffin in the cellaphane bag and reached for my Eat Natural bar instead. My seatmates looked on in envy. "That is much more to my taste," said the lady next to me. Me too!

1 comment:

Susan said...

Woohoo! Whatever scales you use, you're definitely on the downward trend! I've made some life-style changes too. Guess what I'm eating for breakfast right now? I have a bowl of it right in front of me. Porridge. Yeah, me. Porridge! With a generous dollop of homemade applesauce and a little bit of pure maple syrup. But it's definitely porridge!

I pre-measure a week's worth into little ziploc bags. Into the little bag goes 1/3 cup of oats and a sprinkle of salt. Then the night before I leave a 3/4 cup of water in a cereal bowl on the counter. In the morning I just have to throw in the pre-measured oats into the water and pop the bowl into the microwave. The porridge is done by the time I get the applesauce out of the fridge and my spoon on the table. It's just as fast as "instant" and tastes way better...