Day 33 - Eating Clean and Snow Melt

I was laying awake the other night and taking inventory of how my 142 days of resolution are going so far for 2011. I was actually awake because of two factors: snoring and snow. The snoring is rather normal in my house, but the snowstorm... it was freakishly cold outside and yours truly forgot to properly program the thermostat. So.... I was going through some old photographs and compared them to some new ones. I know I have gained too much weight when my face is "fat." Seriously. It's one thing to wear tents, but when my face looks like the Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man... well, it's definitely time to reverse the trend.

I've started reading Jillian Michael's "Master Your Metabolism." There's a wealth of information in there. I also recommend Tosca Reno's "Eat Clean Diet." I've started making changes on the diet, but I'm no where near eating TOTALLY clean yet. Slowly but surely. I wish I were one of those people who could make some changes cold turkey, but alas, not so much.

Health & Fitness #33 Still sore from shoveling snow, but did take a pretty good walk around the PD and up and down stairs today. Will probably try to do something at home tonight too.

Food & Drink #33 My mother used to say that I had to chew each bite of food 32 times. I always thought that was a random BS number, but there is some science behind it. So, I've been taking more time to eat and to TASTE foods. Too many times I have found myself just shovelling food in my mouth and I haven't really stopped to taste it. It's actually how my dogs eat - three chews and it's gone. That's totally not healthy because the mouth does a good bunch of digesting food before it even gets to the stomach. Why do I want to make my stomach try to do more work? I have to admit it's harder to eat this way, but I have found that I enjoy my meals more and I have found that I don't eat quite as much. In the long run, that's a good thing. So a couple of tips to help the process:

1. Chew each bite of food about 30 times.
2. Put the fork or spoon down between bites.
3. Don't talk with your mouth full. Not only is it bad manners, but it impedes on eating because you are in such a hurry to speak. A few more seconds won't matter.
4. "Take human-sized bites." This is another of my mom's favorite sayings, but there's truth to it. Smaller bites means better digestion and a feeling of fullness at a decent rate so you don't over-stuff yourself.

There are many articles on the benefits of good mastication and I promise within a week of changing your chewing habits, you will see and feel a difference in your body AND your appreciation for food. Just maybe you will become a true gormand.

Food tally for the day:
Breakfast: 1 cup chocolate Silk
Morning Snack: 2 Ezekiel Tortillas, 15 baby carrots
Lunch:2 Cups raw spinach, 1 cup cubed chicken
Afternoon Treat: 1/2 "Mounds" package, 5 peanut M&M's and cherry Jello (not together!) and 1 cup chopped pineapple (I do sense a carb trend here)
Dinner: Tuna fish salad, ezekiel tortilla, sprouts

Feeding the Spirit #33 How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?