So maybe we've gone off track...

I was sitting here thinking about getting the Christmas shopping done this week. My goal is to have it all done by 12 December so I can enjoy the last days before Christmas without the gift-buying/just-one-more-quick-stop/one-more-quick-thing stress.

I read a post from a group member on linkedin looking for our favorite "cheat foods" (those foods you can eat when you're on a diet that don't lead to weight gain --seriously...don't get me started!).

Here's what's buggin me:

We have such an idea that more is better -- more food (it's our right to be able to eat whatever we want), more stuff (the "American dream" on steroids), more, more, more.

We are tired. We are overweight. We are feeling frustrated because there is always so much more to do.

Maybe we need to recalibrate. We just had Thanksgiving -- if you had to pick 31 things you were grateful for, could you do it? And what, once you finished your list, would be left off the list that you automatically think you just couldn't live without?

Is one of the items on your list that you got stuffed on Thanksgiving? If it is not one of your top 31 things -- did you really need to be that full to enjoy the holiday?

A couple years ago, during a move, I made a vow that I wouldn't move anything into the new house that I didn't love or wasn't useful. There were a lot of items that didn't make that cut. It has taken me a while to furnish the house so that it really looks like a house and is still a work in progress. But I can honestly say, everything sitting around has meaning for me and has the ability to make me smile.

How would life be if we started approaching things more like that? And I am not just talking about our stuff here (obviously, since this is a blog about eating).

What if you only put things on your plate that had the ability to make you smile? What if you stopped eating while you still had the ability to feel great about the amount you had eaten? What if we stopped thinking it was necessary to have more (stuff/food/square footage in our houses/ whatever) and started seeking out the things that make us smile and keep raising the bar to find the best of the best -- not settling for something that doesn't meet our standards? What would your fridge look like? Seriously, would the non-fat ice cream be in there??

Do we need "more stuff" or do we just need the "stuff that makes our hearts sing"?

Mnmlism

The idea of minimalism intrigues me. I read a post the other day where the author wanted to live with less than 100 personal items. He listed out all of the things he owned (shared household items didn't count) and he came up with 90 items including his whole wardrobe! Now...maybe I wouldn't go that far but still....

Quite a few years ago, my beautiful younger cousin (who might be one of the smartest people I know -- even though I know that is not how she sees herself) told me "Anything you own, owns a piece of you". And it makes a ton of sense -- houses need repairs, if you have more than one pair of shoes -- it is easier to lose one and end up spending time looking for it, the more clothes you have, the more laundry you do, etc, etc.

A few years ago, I moved to a new house and vowed not to take anything that wasn't either functionally necessary or something I really loved. And when all was unpacked, the house looked pretty underfurnished. As the years have progressed, I have added meaningful pieces to the house and it is coming along nicely -- but to get to my point....

How would it work if you were a food minimalist? You could eat anything you want but it had to be delicious -- not just run of the mill ordinary. If you took the first bite of something and it didn't meet your expectations, you didn't finish it. Or...when you were full you put your fork down and didn't finish what was on your plate.

In exchange for you high standards -- there where no holds barred -- you could eat anything that appealed to you without thinking about whether or not it was "healthy" or "low-fat".

Can you feel the sense of freedom this would give you?

Do you feel the first buddings of hope?

Being a minimalist with your food works. But, just like me trying to furnish my house with only pieces I love, it takes time to decide what your style is. You have to put some thought into how a certain food makes you feel -- both as your eating and after (ever been to the ball park/county fair/hockey rink and had something that later you realized was giving you the stomach ache of your life? Then when you went to a similar event at some later date you ate the same thing, with the same results, and wondered why you did it...again?)

To maintain a healthy weight -- every bite you eat needs to be used by your body or your body stores it as fat.

To lose weight -- you need to eat fewer bites than your body needs so it pulls the extra calories to maintain itself from your fat stores.

It is true what brilliant little cousin told me ... every thing you own, owns a piece of you. How much are you willing to let the food in your life control your quality of life -- the way you see yourself, the way you look at what you can accomplish in this world???