I Can Make You Thin

So we're watching this TLC program. It seems fairly simple so far. It's 5 weeks, we're already 2 weeks behind, but we're going to go ahead and start this, because it looks like it is something that at least I can do.

Four Steps

1. Eat when you are hungry
2. Eat what you want
3. Eat consciously
4. Eat until you're full

(I think, I'm going to have to watch it all again). Anyway, the idea is to eat your food slowly, taste your food, enjoy your food and notice when your body is telling you it is full.

Some concepts to work with:

"Clean plate" syndrome. The idea that you must clean your plate or it is wasting food. I think we don't have to worry much about that one, we're pretty good about putting extra food away, hopefully we'll start making less food and/or put more away for lunch the next day or what have you.

Starvation is not good, it just makes more fat cells, therefore making it easier to put weight back on. I need a lifestyle, I need to be able to eat the things I like. I'm not a salad person (though I've been known to eat some Ceasar salads).

Knowing when I'm hungry and when I'm full. These are probably the worst. He had a hunger scale and the point was to never get so hungry you are famished or faint and to never get so full your are stuffed and uncomfortable. The point is to stay in the nice middle ground of slightly hungry to full. He showed that people tend to eat with their eyes and not their stomachs. So, tuning into stomach is the best idea. Also, eating slower and paying attention to your food, and not other things. I think this will help a lot. It's proven you tend to eat more when you don't pay attention to what you're doing. For example, they often tell you to not grab a whole bag of snacks, instead put some in a bowl, because if you're watching TV or something, you'll snack and eat and what have you, and then before you know it, you've eaten a whole bag and can't remember what it tastes like.

Anyway, I'm keen on trying this for the next five weeks, so we'll see how it goes.