Why are you doing what you are doing?

Okay -- maybe today is your first opportunity to read this blog. Or perhaps you have been with me since the beginning. I just looked and I have 8 blog posts filed under the keyword "goals". Here is the question for the day. I expect you to be able to answer it! If you want to take a minute and write the answer as a comment, I would love that -- both because I would love to hear your "voice" and also because if you are able to type out your answer, you have really given it some thought and are not just letting the answer be a vague feeling of unease. The question is this:

Why are you doing what you are doing? --Why are you trying to lose weight? Why are you trying to adopt a more mindful eating pattern?

If you can write out an answer to those questions, when you start to get cranky because you are not seeing progress fast enough -- you can remind yourself of the reasons you started out on this mindful journey.

For example: Why am I (Kristi) trying to adopt a more mindful eating pattern?

Okay -- for those of you who know me, you know I am not trying to lose weight -- I am happy where I am at BUT...I do not want to gain weight -- that sneaky few pounds per year that make things creep up over time. Why?

Because it is always easier to lose fewer pounds than more pounds.

I need to stay at a healthy weight because I only have half the cartilage in my knee as I should and I can't add any more wear and tear on my knees than I have to.

I want to maintain a healthy weight because, to a certain degree, my job depends on it. It is very hard to preach activity and mindful eating if I am many pounds over weight.

And most immediate and personally important to me: I like to be active. I like trying new physical skills. I have just taken up golf and suck at it. Additional weight is only going to make learning this new game harder. And I want to learn to kite surf. And I still haven't completely ruled out lacrosse (even though I should -- with the knees and all).

And I love, love, love good food!! I don't want to have to cut out fat -- I don't want some kind of butter-alternative -- I want butter. And real, fat sour cream and rissotto, and pasta, and pizza, and I don't want to give up cookies. I don't like to read labels and let them tell me whether I should eat the contents or not! I want to eat all of the things I love. Mindfulness is the only way I can do that. I can only eat small amounts of what I love because they are so calorie dense. I don't want to have to measure my food portions -- it steals joy from my process of eating. For me, mindfulness is a way to be free of the fear of food!

So -- when you decide you don't care about being mindful of how you eat ("I don't WANT to think about this right now!" or "I am too tired" or "It is just too much work to pay attention to this!"), what opportunities are you potentially giving up (or making more difficult) by your actions? When you can spell that out to yourself, then you can decide if the extra 3 bites of store-bought, day-old and stale brownie that tastes like the cardboard it was packaged in is really worth it. If it is -- just make sure to taste, enjoy, and appreciate every waxy bite!