9 Bites

Before you hit the Barnes and Noble diet rack in preparation for the January 1, 2011 Beat-Yourself-into-Submission-through-Diet-and-Exercise 3 week crash course that ends up with you a few pounds lighter but sore, demoralize, guilty, and sneaking ice cream at 3am so your spouse doesn't see you.....

Think about this:

The only thing standing between you and your goal weight is 9 bites a day.

If you reduce your intake just that much, you will lose .5-1 pound per week.

You don't have to give up your cookies at break time -- just eat a couple less.  You don't have to switch to lettuce salads with no dressing instead of going out to dinner with your friends.  Just eat a few bites less than you to right now.  It's a lifestyle change to change your size -- quick fixes are called that for a reason...they don't last.

Picking the correct food for the job

How well do you pick the correct food for the job? Have you ever given it any thought?

When I was in college (the first time -- a long time ago when I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up) I took a nutrition class. Along with my rudderless self, most of the rest of the class was composed of people looking to become dietitians when they grew up. One of the questions that was posed by the instructor was "What nutrition advise would you give a homeless person who told you he mostly eats hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches?"

Okay -- seriously? Is nutritional advice our first line of help for a homeless person?

But back to the story -- biting back my above retort, I listened to a future Dietitian tell the class that she would advise the homeless client to reduce his intake of hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches because both are very high in fat. (Seriously -- this person has more to worry about than eating a diet too high in fat!!) The job of food, in this case, would be to keep the man alive so that, hopefully, he has the energy to take care of himself in other ways (like finding shelter).

There was a study conducted by Paul Rozin where he showed a picture of a chocolate cake to groups of French people and American people and asked them to say the first word that popped into their minds.

The Americans top response was: Guilt
The French top response was: Celebration

Rozin also did a study that asked people "Assume you are alone on a desert island for one year and you can have water and one other food. Pick the food that you think would be best for your health."

Your choices are:
Corn
alfalfa sprouts
hot dogs
spinach
peaches
bananas
or milk chocolate

So...which one would YOU choose?

The most popular choice was bananas (42%)
spinach (27%)
corn (12%)
alfalfa sprouts (7%)
peaches (5%)
hot dogs (4%)
milk chocolate (3%)

But here's the deal -- what is the purpose of this food choice? To keep you "healthy"? Nope. This foods job would be to keep you alive. So...to meet that purpose, the right choice for survival is Hot Dogs or Milk Chocolate.

So give some thought to the purpose you are trying to fulfill next time you eat. If you are physically hungry -- the purpose is to get rid of the hunger. So the goal would be to pick something that would get rid of your hunger.

But...if you are in need of comfort food (it is cold and gray outside, you have had a really bad week, and you are feeling a cold coming on) that might require a much different kind of food. Maybe something warm, thick and hearty. Now would not be the time for me to put together a garden salad for myself and expect it would satisfy me. I might eat the salad but I would be on to something else (something warm, thick and hearty) and the salad calories would be those 9 bites I should have left uneaten.

The right food for the job matters but if you don't know what you are trying to accomplish, how are you going to choose the right food to fit the job?

The real test of Intuitive Eating

Yesterday, I was talking to my daughter about the subject of today's blog. She suggested the ultimate test of being mindful while you are eating.

Can you leave the last 2 ravioli in the pot (to be thrown out later) or the last 2 Fruit Loops in the bowl because they no longer taste GREAT!

side note: I have no idea why she chose Fruit Loops for her example. She had just gotten done eating ravioli for lunch (and throwing out two) -- that part made sense. I can't tell you when the last time I bought Fruit Loops was!

Anyway, her point still holds. How often do you find yourself throwing out the last two bites of anything because you did not eat it?? Hopefully, more and more often!

How much do you need to reduce your intake??

If you reduce the amount of food you eat per day by 9 bites (think about it -- that is just 3 bites per meal), you will have saved enough calories in a week to lose a 1/2-1 pound in a week.

Can you be happy eating 9 bites per day less?

Mountains

I was thinking about change this morning. Sometimes change feels like a mountain. A mountain doesn't seem so scary, though, when you understand that mountains are a conglomeration of rocks, sand, pebbles, etc. Even if a rock is really big -- it is not the size of the whole mountain.

So when you are working on behavior change that feels like a mountain to you, make sure you are looking to loosen up the sand and pebbles first.

Do what you can do -- doing something small and being successful at it is more important in the long term than making some larger change only once.

Need a visual? There's still time (before it snows on Monday :( to go out into your driveway and find some small stones. Keep then in your desk at work. When you make a choice you feel positive about -- take a stone out and line them up on your desk. Start the process over the next day. If you are mindfully looking for positive decisions, it is more likely you will make them.

Reminder

Nothing exciting today, my friends. Just a reminder:

The thing about using mindfulness as a tool for weight loss -- you are only looking to reduce your intake by 9 bites per day. Just 9.

Doesn't matter where they come from -- just 9 that you would normally eat but you are now leaving them uneaten. That will give you enough calories to lose .5-1 pound of weight per week.

Look for the ones that don't matter to you. The things that don't taste as great as you thought they would. Leave those on the plate or throw them away!!

If something is tasting wonderful, don't switch to auto pilot after the first or second bite. Keep enjoying, feeling the texture and tasting the flavor. When you notice that it is no longer WONDERFUL, stop.

That's it. Give it a whirl this weekend :)

Work as Play

Leo, at Zen Habits, was talking about how he has turned his work into play. How it has transformed his world because he shifted how he looked at what he did.

When I teach classes, I try to emphasize the importance of curiosity in exploring eating habits. If you are curious about your behaviors, you create an environment of learning -- any kinder garden teacher will tell you that.

If you are judgmental of your behaviors, if you label eating ice cream "BAD!" -- it is not going to stop you from eating ice cream but it will stop you from looking at why you eat ice cream. Judgment shuts down the creative part of the brain.

How would your eating behaviors change if you viewed them through the lens of exploration? Looking forward to meals as an opportunity to learn something new about yourself.

Remember: Your goal for eating Mindfully is to maximize your enjoyment of the things you eat AND lose weight by eating 9 bites per day less than you do now.

So where are you going to find those 9 bites? Which 9 bites do you enjoy least? Which ones are the ones that leave you feeling guilty, too full, or uncomfortable? Wouldn't it be great to get rid of those (bites and feelings)? If you get rid of those bites, you would be left with feeling comfortable physically and mentally.

To find those 9 bites, put on your Explorer's Hat and get curious about yourself. Don't judge your behaviors -- just write them down. The 9 least enjoyable bites will be right there in black and white. Once you understand which ones they are, you can make a plan to leave them uneaten.