My New Toy!

Yay! I'm so excited(it doesn't take much -- lol)! Checking this baby off my "Walk with Me" wish list! I have so much to do this weekend. I'm almost tempted to skip going to meditation tonight.... However, I will be taking some time to play with my new toy soon...probably late Sunday. Stay tuned!

Healthy Eating: The Mindful Orange

The Mindful Orange

Yesterday I did a Google search on mindful eating and came across quite a few mindful eating exercises. I liked the idea of trying the exercise with a piece of fruit. I think it’s going to be a better starting point for me than doing this during a meal. So, today I chose an orange. I used the following exercise as my model: https://depts.washington.edu/abrc/stress/MindfulEatingExercise.pdf

The first part of the exercise was absolutely amazing. I took the time to truly appreciate everything that goes into my being able to eat an orange. Someone had to till the soil and plant seeds or trees; someone took care of those trees; others picked the fruit; so on and so on. I expressed gratitude to all the effort that it took for me to be able to sit down and enjoy this orange. It was a very humbling experience.

As I cut the orange, I just enjoy the sweet smell. I love any type of citrus smell so this experience was very enjoyable. I couldn’t believe I was taking the time to just sit there and enjoy the sight and smell of this orange.

The eating part had its challenging. I found myself struggling to eat slowly. I also caught myself picking up another slice while I still had fruit in my mouth. When this occurred, I would stop, put my hands on the table, and spend a few moments focusing on my breath before proceeding.
As hungry as a felt before eating the orange, I was extremely surprised by how full and satisfied I felt.

Healthy Eating: Big Beautiful Salad

I have been getting nudges left and right from the Universe about mindful eating. So, today, I tried it. I made a nice salad.

One of the things I did was pay attention to my thoughts while I was preparing it. At first I was anxious then I began focusing on gratitude. Thanking God for the food I was about to receive for the nourishment of my body. This is challenging because I was hungry and just wanted to throw the salad together and eat it.

I paid attention to the different greens on my plate, the different shapes and colors. Then I chopped a tomato. I held it in my hand and gave thanks. I paid attention to how I was chopped and lovingly spread it on top of the salad greens.

As I sliced red pepper, I enjoyed listening to the knife slicing against the crisp pepper. As I spread the pepper on top of the greens and tomatoes, I notice the difference shades of red. This is not something I would normally notice.

I enjoyed the smell of red onion and the pretty color it added to my salad.
I also enjoyed the smell of fresh black pepper.
Again, this was challenging and I was well aware of the thoughts to just hurry up, make the salad, and eat. After all, I only have an hour for lunch!

I then added feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette dressing and sat down to enjoy my salad.

I have to admit I did not do so well. I sat for a minute and looked at the salad. I took a bite and noticed all the flavors and textures…the sweet balsamic, the salty cheese, the sweet pepper and onion, the spicy black pepper, the earthy greens…it was delicious. The one thing that began bothering me about this mindful exercise is the amount of time it was taking me to eat and how much it was stimulating my senses. I’m not so sure if it’s a good idea for my compulsive overeating tendencies. I was aware of thoughts about the exercise being a triggering. Since joining OA, I’ve developed a strange fear of enjoying my food too much. There are times I will feel guilty about enjoying a meal. Anyhow, this is something I will discuss with my sponsor. After eating half of the salad in a mindful manner, I resorted back to my “regular” way of eating.

Mediterranean Shirataki

Mediterranean Shirataki: peppers, onions, sundried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and Feta cheese.

I'm really having fun coming up with different dishes with these noodles. The next time I make this dish I plan to add shrimp. Yummy!

Marching On

I can't believe it's March! I'm doing okay. I haven't been working out on a consistent basis. The bottom line is that I haven't been sleeping well so I don't have the energy. Working on getting my sleep routine under control. The weather is improving so I'll be back on the trails soon!