I’m only a day late (but not a dollar short). Yesterday was completely swallowed up by a pretty fierce migraine headache — for the first time in awhile, meds didn’t help and it was quite a ride before it was over. Today I’ve got the after-headache headache (which is like the after-party party except without the fun … it’s actually more like the after-party party hangover), but I’m mostly recovered.
Onto the matter at hand — the new habit! In the spirit of Lean Eating trying to launch us from the nest and get us thinking on our own, we are supposed to concentrate on picking a habit and then doing “A little more, a little better”. So, if I usually eat 3 servings of vegetables a day, I might focus on getting the full 5 servings. Or if I don’t get enough sleep, I could choose to make sure to get to bed earlier. And I can pick a different habit every day or pick just one and stick with it. It’s all in the effort to more consistently follow the guidelines that will lead me to a healthy lifestyle.
I like this one. Like last week, which was “do anything you want” week, it plays into getting me to think more about real life. I need to figure out how these Lean Eating tenets will form a solid foundation that will allow me to live and eat and play without even thinking about it. Work on the habits until they become (duh) habitual.
There are a few I’m going to concentrate on. First — eating slowly. I only sporadically pay attention to this one, and it’s all too easy to sit down with a full plate of food and then POOF! it’s gone. How’d that happen? Just taking my time and, you know, tasting my food helps me make better decisions about my hunger level.
Second, I’m going to go back and do the food recording. That habit happened during the week where my grandma’s health failed and she passed away, so I didn’t really do it the right way. I’m not worrying about calories at all, but just keep track of everything that goes in my mouth so I can get a true picture of what could be improved.
Third — and this is the habit/practice that is possibly the most critical — simply be mindful. Don’t shut my brain off when I’m shopping and I want cookies. Just think about it. Do I really want the cookies? Or, more to the point, do I really want the setback that those cookies represent (because you know I’m not just having a few, I’m eating the whole box)? MINDFUL. That’s the key to everything.
