Mindfulness required...

So today I was perusing websites looking for some new healthier recipes, and I came across one I had booked marked awhile ago:  Live Better America. 

In addition to finding a number of tempting recipes, I discovered a blog post entitled, "So, How Do You Feel About Your Body?" by Kitty Shea.  The premise is that we should not be focusing on the number on the scale as much as we focus on how our body feels.  Here is a small excerpt from her post (see above link for entire post): 

Body awareness is a daily theme. I used to think we had vanity or insecurity to thank, or that we were chasing a Photoshopped media ideal. Recently, however, it dawned on me that making healthy choices — at least until they become reflexive — requires constant mindfulness, and that maybe all this body thought is just our inner support systems keeping us in a constructive mindset. I’m not talking bodily obsession here; rather, humble acknowledgement that we don’t get to lose weight or get fit and then call it good, end of story. Sustaining our efforts is everything, and doing so means mentally working our choice-making until better habits cement into our beings.  

So I learned that body awareness is a good thing.  This is big news for me.  See I tend to walk by a store front of glass windows and avert my eyes knowing my reflection will be in the glass.  I do not like what I see in the mirror right now, but I am reminded today that the reflection in the mirror is only a part of who I am.  My body does not define all of me.  Owning my weight condition means being aware of my body and not hiding from it.  

Being aware of my body also requires me to tune into my pain.  I mentioned pain scale a few posts back.  My body is communicating with me when I feel pain.  I know from experience that certain foods trigger reactions in my body.  After eating breads/pasta/pizza my legs tend to ache and feel very heavy.   Diet Coke - which has been my drug of choice for over a decade now - hits my system like an immediate high.  I actually sigh with my first sip when I have not had one in awhile.  Yet, within 20 minutes of drinking a Diet Coke I am usually in the bathroom with IBS.  It also aggravates my acid reflux as does other forms of caffeine.  Milk chocolate leads me down a path toward headaches and heartburn as well.   Being aware of how my body feels after I eat is beneficial for my overall health and my comfort as well.  I'm tired of dashing to the bathroom in Target because I grabbed a Diet Coke on the ride in.  Not the way I prefer to shop.

Yet the line that stood out to me the most in Ms. Shea's post was that making healthy choices - at least until they become reflexive- requires constant mindfulness.   Constant mindfulness....

I am pretty sure I knew this...pretty sure the constant mindfulness is one reason why I started this blog in August and am now just putting an action plan together in November.  I am so busy chasing after my kids, carting them to the bus stop, running errands, trying to cook for six people who all have different preferences that thinking about anything else does me in.  In order to be successful, I am supposed to be mindful of my grocery list, my weekly menu, my snacking, my activity.  Not to mention that as the MOM and WIFE I am supposed to be mindful of my families eating habits and food choices.  My head is spinning and easily overwhelmed when I stop and think about all that I need to stop and think about.  I hear my voice saying that my menu planning can wait another day; I'll just whip up the frozen Bourboun Chicken and boxed rice that five out of six family members will eat.  And there are days when I will grab the easy meal and that is okay too.  But I want that to be the exception and the norm in my household.

So today I spent time on Live Better America, picked four new recipes to print, and changed my Black Bean Soup recipe that was slotted for tonight's dinner to reflect a slightly healthier version of my favorite soup.   We all have days when life takes over and we do what we have to do to put food on the table, but Lord willing, I want to be more mindful of healthy choices -- constantly mindful until those choices become second nature for both me and my family. 

Guess I better start planning tomorrow's meals.