Mindful Eating

I have been reviewing information from Overeaters Anonymous and other 12 step programs to understand Abstinence as used in a food oriented program.

I am defining Abstinence as staying on my food program as defined by the Nutritional goals set by my dietician. I will set up a tracking for daily abstinence.

I certainly can relate to the first of the 12 steps - which is admitting that I am powerless over food and that my life had become unmanageable. That is why I recommitted to Sparks People in Sept 2015. That is also why I signed up with Spark Coach.

I was also addicted to Tobacco- I quit smoking 10/10/2015, and am grateful for the 60 days abstinence. I continue to post my Daily Nope on my Stop Smoking Team. My sponsor/cheerleader/GO TO GURU was my wonderful sister Deb. I used the Nicorette patches to help me with this journey. Since I had tape sensitivity issues that were beginning to get worse, I have discontinued the patches and still have been able to cope.

My focus is moving from my tobacco addiction to my food addiction. This is a confusing journey in many respects. You can't put on a patch and quit eating ( otherwise it would be another obsession). I need to learn to have a healthy relationship with food.

My Daily Nutrition Plan appears to be more than adequate to meet my nutritional needs. I don't think I will lose rapidly on this program, but it is sensible and should be the basis of the work I need to do on the Emotional eating.

As always, God always puts in front of me, exactly what I need at the time. Todays Spark Coach lesson was on Mindful Eating. As I watched the video and took notes, I had the epiphany that this was what I could use to help me simplify this.

I already have a good food plan. I have been using the tools from Spark People since September. I have good motivation, and I really want to make this work.

I joined a Mindful Eating Challenge today, It seems simple S.T.O.P.
Select, Taste,Observe, Pause. I will monitor my Satiety levels at each meal, continuing to fuel my body so that I stay in the 4-5 range. 4 Being starting to feel a little hunger, 5 being neither hungry nor full. Level 6 is a little full, pleasantly full.

I have joined 2 other teams to help me with this: 1) Break the Bad Habits and Make Better Ones
and 2) Emotional Eaters.

I am schedules to have injections in my back in January, until then exercise is just a matter of what can be tolerated. I am working through a fibro flare at the moment, so it is pretty much stretching.