I am doing something I haven’t done in a really long time- I’m reading the Weight Watchers meeting topic and applying it to my life. Seems like a no brainer, huh. This week’s meeting topic is Mindful Eating. This is a perfect topic for me to blog about right now, because as a new mom I’m struggling with it.
Weight Watchers gives us these tips this week on how to be mindful when we eat. This is my take on how I can apply these to my life and my weight loss.
Making food the focus
Food is hardly ever the focus anymore when I eat. I find myself eating entire meals without tasting a single bite. This leads me to binge later when Quinn is finally asleep. If I don’t have her dangling off of me, I’m checking Twitter, Facebook, or texting while I’m eating. For people without eating issues, this may be ok. But people who tend to binge need to make food the focus. I need to unplug and put Quinn in her crib and shut the door and eat my dinner with no distraction. It is so difficult to chew food and listen to my baby cry. My mind isn’t on what I’m eating, it’s on her. Maybe I should pop earbuds in my ears and listen to music to drown her crying out long enough to finish a meal? Does that make me a bad mom? Meal time needs to be just that, meal time.
Before your meal
Pay attention to food choices
I have been eating anything and everything in sight (jar of peanut butter with a spoon. Big BIG jar. The shame.) I used to pre-track my days the night before and use my tracker as a guide. That helped me balance my choices and made my days go much more smoothly. I’m doing that again starting now. When you know the points plus value for the foods you eat and budget them into your day, you are less likely to go whole hog on a block of cheese or a massive serving of pasta smothered in butter. I have gotten out of the habit of looking at foods and seeing the points plus value of them. I need to remember that everything comes at a price, some heftier than others.
Set a smarter table
The first thing I need to do is actually sit at the table for my meals. Pregnancy brought along some bad habits as a result of working 10 hour days. When I got home I’d plop on the couch and eat my dinner in front of the TV. I used to eat meals at the table, even if I ate there alone. I’m ready to do that again. I also used to drink water with every meal. This is important to focus on again as well, since my water intake while nursing is some obscene amount.
During your meal
I need to be in the moment when I’m eating my meal. Instead of shoveling it all in so I can start another load of laundry or go pick Quinn up because she’s crying, I should take my time and chew and enjoy it. This should not be as hard as I’ve made it for myself lately. I find that the faster I make myself eat, the more I eat because I’m not enjoying it at all. It becomes quantity over quality, and my poor food choices lately have really shown.
After your meal
After my meal I plan to check my tracker and make sure I tracked everything accurately. Little things like forgetting to track a sauce or condiment can really add up, and I can’t afford those kinds of mistakes. I also plan to chug a glass of water. That’s a little trick I used to use to make sure I felt full when I pushed away from the table. It’s especially handy when I’m just getting back to eating healthy amounts of food and I’m feeling a little deprived.
I have prepared myself for tomorrow by laying out the things I need to make my oatmeal.
I’m armed with lots of healthy choices and I’m ready to make the right decisions again.
How do you make sure you are eating mindfully?
