Here, Taste This

I indulged… I ate the individually packaged peanut butter cup that a friend gave me a week ago. It was sooo good! I ate it so slowly that my husband actually exclaimed to me when he noticed I was just finishing it off, “you’re still eating that?!” Ha, ha! I was definitely savouring the taste!

It’s interesting to consider the different manner with which I eat things now compared to before beginning my quest to a thinner, healthier me. I actually take the time to enjoy what I put into my mouth these days whereas I used to just wolf stuff down without really tasting it.

When I was gorging myself I almost never took the opportunity to really relish the food and beverages that I was consuming. Often, I would throw something down my gullet and move onto whatever was next. Sure, I looked forward to certain things and did savour the occasional first bite of something I was particularly excited about having, but I mostly just opened the hatch and poured in the feed.

I was so concerned with getting the food into me – often because I had gone too long between meals – that I just ate too quickly to become very aware of what was passing by my lips. This wasn’t always the case; I certainly had my share of moments where I felt as though I were entering some hypnotic state based on the euphoria I was experiencing from a particular piece of chocolate or slice of cheesecake. But, many times I would find myself finished whatever I had been eating without having really tasted much of it at all.

Now things are different. I eat much slower than I used to, for starters. I take the time to let every bit of my palate become aware of what I am consuming. This allows me the chance to undertake the second part of my altered method of eating: I consider. I think about and contemplate the flavours and sometimes even what the food is doing for my body or how it is helping me get to goal. I am now a conscientious eater.

Everything that I put into my body I now do with thought. Nothing is eaten or drank without considering it’s appearance, texture, scent, flavour, and nutritional value. I love that I do this and that I am getting a much richer, fuller appreciation for foods than I ever had when I was simply tossing them into my mouth. I knew before I had my first bite that the peanut butter cup was going to be good but, because of my changing relationship with food, it was so much better than it ever would have been three months ago.

FOOD & BEVERAGES:
- 8 glasses of water throughout the day
- 2 1/2 cups beef and broccoli
- 1 Mandarin orange
- 1 wrap on a whole wheat tortilla shell with scrambled egg, spinach, feta cheese, and sun-dried tomato
- 5 corn bread crackers
- 1 toasted pear with cinnamon
- 8 pieces of a California sushi roll with soy sauce
- 1 mug of vanilla pumpkin spice steamed soy milk
- 1 chocolate and peanut butter cup

EXERCISE:
- 1 hour and 30 minute walk
- 4 sets of 30 stomach crunches (2 straight, 1 right, and 1 left)
- 2 sets of 5 push ups