Chalk one up for Mindfulness

I have told you all in the past, I love!! to eat. But here's the thing -- sometimes I eat like there is no tomorrow (really!! -- anything that is not nailed down is goin' in! And I am STARVING when I sit down) Other times, I am not hungry at all. It sometimes freaks me out when I am going through on of those "Hungry/Starving all the time" stretches -- but I don't seem to get in too much of a crank when I don't get hungry.

Then there are the times that life gets too busy to cook. You know how it goes -- one kid needs to be here, the other dropped off there, project at work is due, house is a wreck, lawn needs to be mowed... with all of that going on, sometimes I don't cook. So...the kids cook, or we eat something quick that really isn't a meal so much as just concentrated grazing.

A few weeks ago, we went through that cycle. I didn't really cook a meal (maybe for a whole week). I mean, there was soup for dinner, or pasta or whatever but the food was just stopping the hunger and not really inspired -- so there wasn't a whole lot of reason to eat much.

By that Friday, I was feeling blah! Nothing seemed to be going right and I couldn't seem to muster my usual sunny disposition.

That night -- because I didn't want to eat just anything (again)and because I didn't feel like cooking, the girls and I ordered pizza. We were veggin' and eating pizza in front of the tv (which normally doesn't happen so it is a treat for all of us).  As I was half way through my second slice, I noticed my mood was improving. My sunny disposition was returning. Life looked more positive than it had when I handed the delivery guy my money. Weird, huh?

But here's the thing -- good food feeds the soul -- not just the body. Food elicits all kinds of neurochemical reactions in the brain but good food also make you feel nurtured.

I don't know why I had such a strong uplifted mood boost from the pizza -- I haven't ever noticed that sensation before. But it doesn't really matter why it happened -- the point is it did. And the more important point is that I recognized it. If I would have been on autopilot, I wouldn't have noticed it and the opportunity to know myself better would have passed on by.