A few months into my weight-loss journey, I came to a realization: I needed to change my relationship with food. Up until that point, I operated by a principles that were unstated yet carefully adhered to -- a.) Taste is the key driver of what I should eat, b.) If something tastes good, eat more of it, and c.) I know what I like and what I don't and that need not be questioned. It's not hard to see why these were the tenets of a tremendously unhealthy diet. Not only did I choose foods that were typically higher in calories, carbs, and fat, but I also ate enormous quantities of these foods. Even worse, when confronted with something unusual or outside of my comfort zone (most vegetables, for example), I would refuse to even try them.
Starting the Weight Watchers program helped me realize that this approach was unsustainable. I recognized that tradeoffs had to be made -- I didn't have to completely give up the foods that I liked, but I had to seriously reduce my portions. In addition, I expanded my willingness to try new foods and in the process discovered dozens of healthy options that I enjoyed. Despite these changes, though, I still often find myself eating way too much, binge-eating unhealthy foods, or slipping back into the types of habits that caused me to be obese in the first place. Over time, I've tried to focus on sticking to the guidelines for healthy eating (mostly derived from Weight Watchers) while recognizing that I will never be perfect. However, when I break from the guidelines, my goal is for it to meaningful. When at a potluck or a restaurant, I try to ask "is eating this meaningful?" For example, the delicious cupcakes that will be at my holiday party tonight, made by a co-worker who has been a professional baker? I'll eat those because both the setting (the holiday party) and the food (Dave's cupcakes) are meaningful to me. But the cupcakes from the supermarket bakery that often wind up in potlucks? I'll pass because they aren't really meaningful.
This approach isn't easy, and even with trying to focus on meaningful food choices, I often make mistakes. Today's longread looks at the idea of mindful eating, and it includes a number of practices that can be used to help us change our relationship to food. As the article notes, this relationship is fluid and takes time to change, which I think is a message that helps combat the fatalism about weight that was discussed in yesterday's longread.
"Mindful Eating as Food for Thought" by Jeff Gordinier
Published in the New York Times, February 7, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/dining/mindful-eating-as-food-for-thought.html?_r=1&ref=dining&pagewanted=all
Eric
The idea of an 'anti-diet' is very appealing. I want to try it. I like the tone of the article where they encourage to start slowly and eat in silence and mindfully once a week or in small amounts (three sips of tea mindfully).
ReplyDeleteIt's also fascinating to think how much goes into each bite - the soil that grew the plants, the sun, the rain, the trucks that delivered the food, the buyers and packagers at trader joe's, the checkout person, etc.