[Mindful i Mouse] The Rest of My Fabulous Day

[Guest guest]

I continued to read One Bowl. After getting to know your bowl, the next exercise is a trial run, so to speak. You take the bowl into the kitchen and put some food in it. You note if it is pleasing, how it makes you feel, what you think about as you try different foods. Of course sooner or later you start to wonder how certain foods like a sandwich would fit, or how you will eat a full dinner like a pork chop, mashed potatoes and gravy. The bowl is obviously smaller than a plate and there is no ability to separate the different foods. Learning to problem solve is part of the process of getting to know both the bowl and the foods one eats. More importantly, one gets to know oneself through the process. There is no limitations on how many times one fills the bowl, it is not about limiting food, it is about nourishing the body and the spirit. Sandwiches can be cut up into small squares, a dinner meal can be eaten by cutting up foods into smaller pieces, eating them separately or finding good combinations. The point is to pay attention to what one is thinking when confronted with a change in eating, particularly when it has been such a long time since one had to consider something as confoundedly simple as the container we eat out of. My experience this afternoon: I craved warmth. I took a hot bath, put on a fresh nightgown. I needed to soothe myself because I had just Skyped with my husband who (for lack of conversation) can’t help but ask me questions about “if I had done this or that†making me feel as though I must report back to him all my daily accomplishments. I try to hold my tongue, try to see it from his point of view, but inside, I am feeling agitated and irritable about all this pressure to please him when I cannot seem to get my own self in “orderâ€. He sensed my irritation and tried to make me laugh and smile, which only further irritated me. I just want to be left alone for awhile. So far, my home time is been filled with talking to him, reporting my day to him, and I feel pressured. The bath really helped. I made tea and poured it into my bowl and drank it. It was wonderfully soothing. A nice black tea with a touch of lemon. Warmth soothes. I don’t know why I am so irritated with my husband these days. Lunch: I heated up the leftover chicken yogurt curry dish. I was surprised to discover the pretty yellow colour of the meal. In the blue ceramic bowl that I baked it in, it wasn’t as yellow. In the brown wooden bowl I used last night, it wasn’t so yellow. In the white bowl, it was intensely yellow! I sensed more pleasure in seeing the colour that I had missed before. Even more astounding was the taste. It tasted better than it did last night. Did the wooden bowl impart a different subtle taste? I swear tea tastes better in a white tea cup than in a mug. Perhaps this is more of an association than an actual taste? Who knows, but I am now certain that I have chosen the right bowl and I really enjoyed my meal, the aroma, the taste and the colour. My spoon was delightful, I really like a round bowl on a spoon, I liked how it felt in my hand and my mouth. Back in the kitchen, I noticed that there was one serving left of the curry. I was not interested in having it now. I was able to stop at one bowl with complete satisfaction. I was not particularly hungry when I ate lunch, but right now, I feel a very strong need to just develop a rhythm to the day, a pattern of three meals and will work on extending to hunger later, when I am ready for it. Later: I decided after a short nap to get the heck out of the house. I needed to get my oldest grandson a birthday gift and I needed eggs. I left the house about noon and did not come home until 7pm! I walked and shopped and walked…it felt so good. I found 2 fancy blouses, 2 lovely v-necked T’s, a pair a capri’s and then I headed to the grocery store for the eggs. This was interesting. Here I had made it 8 hours since my last meal, this day was bordering on being right back on plan if I could make it through the grocery store without caving into some treat. And I DID think about it several times. I came out the door with a head of cauliflower, 2 lbs of pork, 2 dz eggs, full fat buttermilk, full fat greek yogurt, napa cabbage and a bag of shredded cheese. I am EVER SO proud of myself. Dinner: I stir-fired 1/3 tube of italian pork sausage, mushrooms, green onion, yellow pepper and 1 leaf of napa cabbage for dinner. I sat down with no distractions, smelled my meal and ate it. I did not eat as slowly as I would have preferred, I was very hungry and I felt an exhilaration of having been active, of having stayed on my diet for a whole day and of the possibility that the food orgy is over with. I have not calculated anything that I have eaten today, I am relying completely on my appetite, my bowl and my hunger level to tell me if I am eating the right amount. I washed my bowl and spoon, made coffee and drank it from my bowl after dinner. Wow, how I love this! --

Posted By i Mouse to Mindful i Mouse at 3/21/2011 07:33:00 PM

[Guest guest]

Dinner: I stir-fired 1/3 tube of italian pork sausage, mushrooms, green onion, yellow pepper and 1 leaf of napa cabbage for dinner. I sat down with no distractions, smelled my meal and ate it. I did not eat as slowly as I would have preferred, I was very hungry and I felt an exhilaration of having been active, of having stayed on my diet for a whole day and of the possibility that the food orgy is over with. I have not calculated anything that I have eaten today, I am relying completely on my appetite, my bowl and my hunger level to tell me if I am eating the right amount. I washed my bowl and spoon, made coffee and drank it from my bowl after dinner. Wow, how I love this!

Your dinner and the balance of your day (Monday?) sounds fabulous! I think you are right about the white bowl compared to the wooden bowl....

Have a beautiful weekend!

[Mindful i Mouse] The Rest of My Fabulous Day

I continued to read One Bowl. After getting to know your bowl, the next exercise is a trial run, so to speak. You take the bowl into the kitchen and put some food in it. You note if it is pleasing, how it makes you feel, what you think about as you try different foods. Of course sooner or later you start to wonder how certain foods like a sandwich would fit, or how you will eat a full dinner like a pork chop, mashed potatoes and gravy. The bowl is obviously smaller than a plate and there is no ability to separate the different foods. Learning to problem solve is part of the process of getting to know both the bowl and the foods one eats. More importantly, one gets to know oneself through the process. There is no limitations on how many times one fills the bowl, it is not about limiting food, it is about nourishing the body and the spirit. Sandwiches can be cut up into small squares, a dinner meal can be eaten by cutting up foods into smaller pieces, eating them separately or finding good combinations. The point is to pay attention to what one is thinking when confronted with a change in eating, particularly when it has been such a long time since one had to consider something as confoundedly simple as the container we eat out of.

My experience this afternoon: I craved warmth. I took a hot bath, put on a fresh nightgown. I needed to soothe myself because I had just Skyped with my husband who (for lack of conversation) can’t help but ask me questions about “if I had done this or that†making me feel as though I must report back to him all my daily accomplishments. I try to hold my tongue, try to see it from his point of view, but inside, I am feeling agitated and irritable about all this pressure to please him when I cannot seem to get my own self in “orderâ€. He sensed my irritation and tried to make me laugh and smile, which only further irritated me. I just want to be left alone for awhile. So far, my home time is been filled with talking to him, reporting my day to him, and I feel pressured. The bath really helped. I made tea and poured it into my bowl and drank it. It was wonderfully soothing. A nice black tea with a touch of lemon. Warmth soothes. I don’t know why I am so irritated with my husband these days.

Lunch: I heated up the leftover chicken yogurt curry dish. I was surprised to discover the pretty yellow colour of the meal. In the blue ceramic bowl that I baked it in, it wasn’t as yellow. In the brown wooden bowl I used last night, it wasn’t so yellow. In the white bowl, it was intensely yellow! I sensed more pleasure in seeing the colour that I had missed before. Even more astounding was the taste. It tasted better than it did last night. Did the wooden bowl impart a different subtle taste? I swear tea tastes better in a white tea cup than in a mug. Perhaps this is more of an association than an actual taste? Who knows, but I am now certain that I have chosen the right bowl and I really enjoyed my meal, the aroma, the taste and the colour. My spoon was delightful, I really like a round bowl on a spoon, I liked how it felt in my hand and my mouth. Back in the kitchen, I noticed that there was one serving left of the curry. I was not interested in having it now. I was able to stop at one bowl with complete satisfaction.

I was not particularly hungry when I ate lunch, but right now, I feel a very strong need to just develop a rhythm to the day, a pattern of three meals and will work on extending to hunger later, when I am ready for it.

Later:

I decided after a short nap to get the heck out of the house. I needed to get my oldest grandson a birthday gift and I needed eggs. I left the house about noon and did not come home until 7pm! I walked and shopped and walked…it felt so good. I found 2 fancy blouses, 2 lovely v-necked T’s, a pair a capri’s and then I headed to the grocery store for the eggs. This was interesting. Here I had made it 8 hours since my last meal, this day was bordering on being right back on plan if I could make it through the grocery store without caving into some treat. And I DID think about it several times. I came out the door with a head of cauliflower, 2 lbs of pork, 2 dz eggs, full fat buttermilk, full fat greek yogurt, napa cabbage and a bag of shredded cheese. I am EVER SO proud of myself.

Dinner: I stir-fired 1/3 tube of italian pork sausage, mushrooms, green onion, yellow pepper and 1 leaf of napa cabbage for dinner. I sat down with no distractions, smelled my meal and ate it. I did not eat as slowly as I would have preferred, I was very hungry and I felt an exhilaration of having been active, of having stayed on my diet for a whole day and of the possibility that the food orgy is over with. I have not calculated anything that I have eaten today, I am relying completely on my appetite, my bowl and my hunger level to tell me if I am eating the right amount. I washed my bowl and spoon, made coffee and drank it from my bowl after dinner. Wow, how I love this!

--

Posted By i Mouse to Mindful i Mouse at 3/21/2011 07:33:00 PM