Fitness - Day 25: Mindful Eating

I've been putting this off.  For me, this is clearly the most challenging aspect of Nutrition Level 3 to adopt, but it's time.  Mindful eating.




So what is mindful eating?  According to Nerd Fitness, it's basically "just eating."  People who eat while distracted tend to eat more, and show less awareness of when they're actually hungry vs when they're just eating because food is there.  See item #2 in this article:

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/05/09/5-jedi-mind-tricks/

It sounds simple, and it is, but simple doesn't mean easy.  I NEVER eat mindfully.  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are always either in front of a computer or book.  Same with snacks.

How do I change?  A lot of it is simply prioritizing and doing it, but as with so much of the "just do it" elements, I can alter things to make "just doing it" easier and more likely.

• At home, I only have a computer desk where I eat, and a rickety coffee table at a low height.  I'll eat at the coffee table instead of the desk for meals, and on my couch for snacks. 
• My next payday is Wednesday, so after that I'll buy a real kitchen table, some place that's more comfortable and conducive to eating away from the computer.
• At work, I have a main desk with my computer and a side desk.  I'll eat at the side desk instead.
• When the weather's pleasant, I'll experiment with finding places to sit and eat outside.

 Good enough to start.

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Breakfast, 7:15am: Two egg omelet with cheddar, two strips of bacon. - DONE

Lunch, 11:00am: Sandwich with tomato, mayonaise, salmon.  Pretzels, banana, four Hershey nuggets. - DONE

Snack, 2:15pm: Popcorn. - DONE

Snack, 6:00pm: Microwave meal. (It sounds like a lot, but it's about 250 calories.  I have two of them still lingering in my freezer, and want to use them up.) - DONE

Dinner, 8:30pm: Roast chicken breast, mashed potatoes, and vegetables.  Small serving of frozen yogurt. - DONE

Last night, the "small serving" I had really was small, and worked fine.  I didn't find myself craving more.  Brushed my teeth after eating, which helped mentally lock in that I was done eating for the day.

Unplanned snacking: Eight Hershey nuggets around 4:00pm.  Got really hungry and didn't even eat them mindfully.  Just scarfed them.  It didn't even really help address my hunger.  I ran out of bottled water this morning and didn't drink much today, and I believe this contributed to that hunger.  Bought more, and will drink more throughout the day.

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Walk to Mordor - Bag End to Rivendell

http://home.insightbb.com/~eowynchallenge/Tools/Bag_end/bag_end.html

Today: 4.09 miles.  Walked around the neighborhood.  Intended to walk maybe a mile, but felt so good that I kept going.

14.5	3.5	Reach Stock Road
15.5	1	Begin to sing. Walk through a deeply cloven track between tall trees.
17.5	2	Climb a steep slope. Pippins yawns. (Nearly midnight.)

Cumulative: 17.9 miles.