I had one of those moments today where you suddenly realize... "hey I did/didn't ____ (smoke, curse, spit, chew your nails, trip and fall, flip anybody off in traffic) today."
I made plans with my friend Nelly yesterday while at work to go and play tennis today at this club she belongs to. I've never been a tennis player but even more than that I never make plans with anybody... hardly ever. I don't know why I never make plans I mean... I like people... they're fun...people like me... I'm fun... I just never make plans with people here. In the US my schedules were always packed with places to go, fun things to do, people to see but for whatever reason I just don't do that here in the Netherlands. Maybe after today I'll have to start.
I woke up looking forward to having the holiday off (not sure what the holiday is but they told me I didn't have to work and I wasn't going to argue) and to my outing with Nelly. I ate my regular breakfast and took Scooter for his morning walk. Then I packed up the car and headed to her house. She wasn't ready yet (I was an hour early, a little excited ya think?) so I walked her dog for her while she fiddled around.
We ended up sitting at her house for a while and chatting. It was getting late so we decided to eat a quick sandwich before hitting the courts.
Then we played. As I said earlier I have never been a tennis player and today was no different. Nelly beat me 8 games to 1. I wasn't nearly as bad as I thought I was going to be though. I even returned a few of her "ace serves" as she liked to call them. After the games we sat around and had some water and just shot the shit. (the light bulb goes off soon, keep reading)
When I got home I did some laundry, did the dishes, played catch with the dog and before I knew it, it was time for Marco to get home from work. He arrived home, grumpy as hell and went straight to bed for a nap.
I started cooking dinner and my belly was growling. "BING" I hardly ate anything today.
Well ok, so I ate breakfast and I ate a sandwich for lunch but usually by this time in the evening I would have eaten much more. On a typical day I would have had at least 2 snacks (fruit or something equally as healthy) and half of my daily veggie intake. I probably would have also had a second sandwich for lunch.
It got me thinking... maybe I'm not listening to my body enough? Maybe I'm eating because it's "time" to eat rather than taking queue from my body as to when I should be eating? Maybe at work when I'm eating my apple and pear for snack I'm not really hungry... I'm just simply bored? (although I'm rarely un-busy enough at work to be truly bored...but you know what I mean) Maybe I'm eating for a distraction?
I was so busy being busy today that I didn't think about food. It reminded me of a section in "the book" (is it really necessary for me to say it? oh alright I'll pimp his book out once again... Dr. Phil's The Ultimate Weight Solutions) that talked about making a list of things to do INSTEAD of munching on things to sort of break your pattern or habit and to get your mind off of food. It talks about learning the difference between hunger and boredom. He suggested you make a list of things you can do besides reaching for food and try doing one of those before actually getting a snack.
I remember writing my list. It had things on it like brushing my teeth, painting my nails, playing with the dog, writing a letter to my Aunt Marion (who still appreciates a hand written letter) and I actually did use the list for a while when I began this whole transformation but like a lot of things, once it's out of site it's also out of mind. I'm not quite sure where the list is anymore but I'm going to make it a point to make a new one. I'm also going to take this light bulb moment to try to pay more attention to what my body is actually feeling rather than eating at a certain time or for distraction.
I've heard many good things about a book called "Intuitive Eating" that I may just have to check out sometime soon.
It's funny that a little thing like a tennis match with a friend can be such an eye opening experience if you pay close enough attention. Thanks Nelly!
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