Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Eating Without Distractions

My mission to eat without distractions is going...okay. I think it is hardest at work because everyone I work with reads magazines for the whole lunch half-hour. The library gets a zillion of them, so there is always something new to read. I usually don't take the entire 30 minutes to eat, so I've been reading after I finish eating. It does feel odd to just sit and eat, but I am definitely tasting my food and enjoying it more.

Dinner is always full of distractions since I have a husband, two kids, and a dog at the table. I haven't been the first one done at every dinner for the past few weeks -- at least at a few meals. I have started eating yogurt with dinner. I know, you're thinking so? I love yogurt and I know it's healthy for me, but it has never been a very satisfying snack for me. No matter what type I eat or what I put in it, I'm hungry less than an hour after eating it. This yogurt appeared on the grocery store shelves a few weeks ago and it's quite tasty. It was on sale last week and I stocked up. I've been eating a cup of it, alternating with the delicious but incredibly expensive greek yogurts, for dinner almost every night. It feels like an indulgence and I don't have to worry about it being an unsatisfying snack. It's a nice sweet ending to my meal too.

Breakfast is difficult because I'm used to multitasking while eating it. I usually make the girls' and my lunches, and sometimes start dinner in between bites of oatmeal. I've been trying to make lunch the night before, but don't always have time. On the weekend I sat and ate mindfully, but this week, I've only managed one morning of simply eating.

My shopping trip was depressing -- not because of the sizes I fit into, but because I couldn't find a single top I even wanted to try on! I did try on several pair of pants, but only found one I liked fairly well. Doesn't any company make khakis that fall just below the waist, have a flat front, and no front or side pockets?!? Levi used to make some Dockers that I loved, so of course they stopped making them. I am wearing a pair of size 8 pants today, for the first time in three plus years. They are a bit snugger than I'm comfortable with, but 10s are just too loose on me now and having them fall down all the time drives me nuts.

5 comments:

Beadie @ What I Ate Yesterday said...

I haven't braved the eating without distractions thing yet, bravo to you for giving it a go.

Marsha said...

I'm not sure that eating without distractions for moms isn't almost impossible! Does sound like lunch is your best bet to get practice in doing it. I wouldn't doubt,tho, that just the intention, whether or not we do it 'perfectly,' is a big help in our efforts to pay more attention to our eating.

Sharon said...

I know what you mean, I tend to eat while doing school work, reading, watching television shows or what have you. I really need to try eating without these distractions.

Pam said...

I can't imagine what would be depressing about fitting into a pair of size 8 trousers! Well done!

Anonymous said...

I'd rather just skip breakfast than multi-task between bites of oatmeal, what I don't get is if you are not stopping to really enjoy it and you have more weight to lose then why bother? Why not wait until the time you can enjoy it. Skipping the meal is always an option!? I don't mean to sound harsh!!!