Have you ever been in your house minding your own business when all the sudden the chocolate ice cream in your freezer begins to call your name? If so what’s your next step?
1. You are stoic, the very model of willpower. You ignore the call of the siren… “Damn you Ben and Jerry, you will not win this one!!!”
2. You surrender. Thinking its futile to resist, you grab the whole carton only to emerge from a closet 2 hours later shaking off a cocoa induced stupor. Flecks of fudge adorn your lips and chin while clumps of defrosted cookie dough glisten in your hair. Slowly, somewhere in the back of your numbed out brain registers a feeling of dread, depression and failure.
3. You simply have a scoop and enjoy.
If you are someone who diets regularly, this scenario may sound somewhat familiar.
I’ve never been a fan of weight loss diets because they tend to set up a temporary situation rather than developing a more sustainable healthy lifestyle. Weight loss diets also can set you up to treat food as the enemy, the focus is on fewer calories rather than the quality or even the identity of the food itself.
This works out well because once food is the enemy, it becomes really difficult to enjoy it anyway. Of course the problems come later- after the weight loss which can render the newly graduated (and lighter) dieter terrified to eat anything “good” for fear of losing control and gaining everything back. If the dieter does allow him or herself permission to eat that decadent dessert, the experience may be so wrapped up in guilt and fear that it’s virtually impossible to truly enjoy.
Really, it’s kind of sad.
Since I love food of all kinds, I’ve never been much of a dieter. Oh, I did try my share of diets when I was a teenager/young adult, convincing myself I was overweight simply by comparing my lanky figure to those more naturally willowy, slight and less amply mammaried than I was. In truth, my 5’9” 150# frame would hardly have been considered overweight by any stretch.
Those who know me well, know of my love for ice cream. In fact, I love it so much that I generally don’t buy it for fear that I will overeat it at home. (I suspect I’m not alone here.) However, these days for those who are interested in avoiding the corpulent consequences of overindulging, there are numerous low fat, low sugar and low calorie versions of decadent foods. So, if I wanted to eat ice cream everyday without busting the scale, I could indulge in the sugar and fat free stuff.
But I won’t…..
Personally I have never understood the concept of the diet “dessert”. It seems to me that if I am craving a particular dessert and instead choose an anemic substitute, that craving is not only not going to go away, but now I’ve consumed x number of calories from the crappy substitute and I STILL WANT THE REAL THING!!!
Research suggests that people will eat more of the lower calorie substitute than the real stuff anyway. So what’s the point?
Lately I have been experimenting with something called “mindful eating”, that is, I have been trying to be a bit more “in the moment” while I am enjoying a favorite food. For many, eating is an activity that can be fraught with distraction, emotion and indifference. How often in your week do you sit down and really pay attention to what you’re eating? How often do you really notice food texture, quality, nuances of flavor, smells and appearance? How often are you eating meals that are even worthy of eating this way?
When you’re busy with the wild daily frappe we call life, many of us (including me) find ourselves taking meals while working, driving or herding children. Some of us are simply too preoccupied with something else such as a personal situation or a bad day to pay attention. I wanted to see if mindful eating would help me slow down and be satisfied with less. I found it takes quite a bit of practice, but it works.
If you want to give it a go yourself, try this exercise:
1. Get two serving sizes of your favorite food (no, the whole Haagen Dazs container does NOT count as a serving, look at the label)
2. Eat one serving while doing something else, watching TV, talking on the phone, etc.
3. Wait until the next day and eat the second serving. Be sure to sit at a table without any distractions. Slowly eat the food and think about how it feels in your mouth. Try to identify the flavors and what they may make you think about, does it make you happy to be eating the food? Why?
4. Compare the first and second servings. Which one did you feel more satisfied with? Which one did it take you longer to eat?
I’m finding I can’t always eat mindfully, but I am getting better. I’m also finding it to be a more rewarding and satisfying way to eat. I figure that we have to eat or we die, cravings happen and sometimes the best way around them….is through them…..
*For a great resource on mindful eating, check out Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch.
