For the next 8 weeks,
I’m going to focus on an aspect of Marc David’s The Slow Down Diet – incorporating
wisdom form Geneen Roth’s Women, Food and God and Jean Fain’s The
Self Compassion Diet. Though diet is in the title of David’s and Fain’s books – they are not diet
books. They are books filled with
information and suggestions on how to reach a healthy weight without the stress
most standard diets produce. The
suggestions they provide are more about creating peace with oneself which opens
up the mind to possibilities of eating for nourishment.
David’s approach includes 8 steps. The first is simply to slow down and breathe
before eating. The deep breathing helps
relax the body so that it can actually use the nutrients in the food. (David alleges that when our bodies are under
the siege of stress, the digestive system actually shuts down and the body
can’t absorb the nutrients). And in
conjunction with the deep breathing, he
advocates slowing down while eating.
This is for two reasons: 1. Shoveling the food down so fast that you
don’t even realize you’ve eaten creates stress in the body. 2.
Slowing down allows you to actually taste what you’re eating – and
perhaps decided you don’t like it.
Geneen Roth suggests 7 guidelines on HOW to eat. The first of which is eat when you are
hungry. Very simple.
And Jean Fain suggests ways to check in with yourself when
you want to eat and you’re not hungry.
One of her ways is to visualize talking with a compassionate advisor and
soliciting information from that advisor.
So, here’s my take away to practice this week:
1.
Eat when
I’m hungry
2.
Take a few deep breaths before and during meals
3.
Eat slowly so I can enjoy my food - and check my satiation level
4.
Talk to my imaginary friend, er I mean compassionate advisor
And true to my word – I shan’t write about this as the sole
purpose of a blog entry again until next week.
I intend to practice these guidelines while living my life and actually
engaging in fun and interesting activities – as well as taking care of everyday
matters and tonight that means I’ll be pulling off the dried up brown spots on
the Million Bells that D helped me save and we left out in the blistering sun
for 3 days. Just when it was starting to
look great again, too!
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