Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends

Met with the dietician yesterday. She was great! I felt totally at ease talking to her about my weight and bad eating habits. I was so nervous about giving her my food journal. I thought for sure she would tell me how horrible I am. She didn't say one bad thing about it. What she did say is there is room for improvement but that I don't need to deprive myself of anything. She wants me to practice Mindful Eating. 

Here are the tips she gave me:

1. Make eating purposeful, not mindless. 
2. Whenever you put food in your mouth, peel it, unwrap it, plate it, and sit and eat it. 
3. Engage all of the senses in the pleasure of eating to nourish your body. 
4. See what you eat. Enjoy the presentation, colors, and texture of the food. 
5. Take a few seconds to enjoy the aroma of the food in front of you. 
6. Take a moment before you start eating to relax. Take a few deep breaths. 
7. Slow down! Eat the lower calorie items on your plate first or eat in courses. This may be helpful to decrease the portions of the higher calorie food items because you will begin to feel more satisfied, less hungry. 
8. Remove visual stimulus to eat at home, office, and in your car. 
9. Practice, practice, practice. 
10. MINDFUL EATING IS A BEHAVIOR CHANGE. IT TAKES TIME!!

She gave me a couple of book titles to get. I ordered those off of abebooks.com. Super cheap, used books. There are some items made by Kashi she wants to me to have in the house as well. 

Overall, I think it was a very positive experience and I am hoping this old dog can learn some new tricks! 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stupid to say this...but One Step at a time...as with any disease, addiction, love/hate relationship.

Remember, the definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.

Keep up the good work - VISUALIZE the end result in your mind and you will have success!!!

Anonymous said...

hi michelle,
love your quote about body & fat being fast friends - ain't that the truth!
good luck with the nutritionist and i'm right there with you in the trenches, trying to lose a few pounds and stop the jiggle :-)
linda

Anonymous said...

Keep up the good work - It is a constant battle that you will continue to fight even after the weight comes off. A War you will win daily - I lost almost 60lbs and have kept it off for about 4 years...I love the new me - I still love food but what I have learned is being healthy and at my goal weight was far greater than my love and obssession with all those calories!!! (except still love the wine!!)

Cheers
Cathy

Michelle Dargen said...

Thanks Girls.

This seems to simple to work. If you are hungry eat. If you aren't hungry don't eat. The past few days it has been hard. I do a little meditation before I eat. I close my eyes, ask myself if I am breathing 5 times, and then ask myself if I am hungry.

So far, so good!