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We’ve just returned from a week’s vacation…one where I’m sure I didn’t follow the “mindful” eating plan very well…if at all. BUT…it was vacation, and I did manage to finish the book and have some more things to share from it.

“Shut the front door” moment #2:

There is a Mindless Eating zone…one where you don’t notice the difference in calories you’re taking in for the day. This can be your downfall…or your secret to weight loss…

Okay…so they explained it this way: Say you’re on a 2000 calorie a day plan and you eat 3000 calories one day…you’re definitely going to notice the difference. You’re going to feel bloated and sloggy (my word…not theirs), Say a different day you eat 1000 calories…you’re going to notice that too. You won’t have any energy at all. Those are major differences. BUT…say you eat 1900 or 2100 calories, those are small enough changes that you’re more than likely not going to notice.

If you’re eating 2100 calories instead of your normal 2000, you’re going to put on weight. Simple math. You’ll put it on slowly…but you’ll put it on and hardly notice…that is until your pants get tight. The same is true however for 1900 calories…you’ll more than likely lose weight…slowly, but this direction is way better than the alternative!!

Seriously…if this is interesting at all…read the book.

moment #3: The running analogy

If a runner sets out to run until she’s tired, she’ll ask herself every step…”am i tired yet? am i tired yet? am i tired yet?” However, if she sets out to run to a landmark and back, she’ll more than likely meet that goal.

Same goes for eating…if you set out to eat until you’re full…you’ll more than likely eat way more than you need to in order to attain “full” status. Especially since you don’t notice you’re full right away – it takes a few minutes (like 10) to notice that you’re full enough. You should set the amount you’re going to eat first…fill your plate with what you’re going to eat…and don’t go back.

This one is especially hard to do…this is a big downfall for me.

This section also talks about packaging of snacks for the kids…and how if they know there’s more, they’ll want more, so feeding them out of a box of snacks or even putting their snacks on a plate will give them clues that there are more for them to have. However, if you package things in small snack-size baggies, when they’re gone from the baggie, they’ve gotten the clue that there is no more.

Especially helpful for me to read in determining snack sizes for the kids…when do you give more…when do you not?? Helpful in trying to raise children who are mindful of what they’re eating as well – whether or not they know it.

Stay tuned…next post…the book finale.

This book is amazing.

The concept…so very simple.

The basic premise – we eat way more than we need to without even thinking about it.

But…he puts it in a different way than I’ve thought about things before. He makes sense.

Within the first 60 pages, I’ve had three “shut the front door” moments. Three separate ideas that really grabbed me.

The first…

That in American culture, as opposed to “leaner” cultures, we eat until we’re full instead of eating until we’re less hungry.

Seriously. Amazing. I’m all into trying this less hungry thing. Now instead of sitting at the table, finishing whats on my plate and saying “Am I full?” I’m now trying to get in the habit of asking myself “Am I hungry anymore?” The answer…most always a “No.”

And I’m loving thinking of the hundreds of calories this can save me from needing to burn later just because I’m not hungry…not because I’m not full.

More later on this book I’m sure…but first I need to finish Jane Eyre. This book is literally sucking the fun out of reading. I’m on chapter 34 of 37 and drudging through it is painful. It’s not that it isn’t a good story…it really is…but it would be so much more captivating if it were written today. I’m imagining less fluff, less pages upon pages of description, and more story. I’m going to finish it though…because I said I would. And then,…onto more appealing books. I feel guilty that they’re sitting by my bedside just waiting for me to read them.

Soon….Soon…

as soon as I can stay awake to finish Jane.

I was having a conversation the other day with my kids’ sitter about her children. We were discussing the graduation of one, and the awards ceremony they had recently participated in. She had mentioned during this conversation how proud she was of her boys for receiving Character Counts awards at this awards presentation.

I told her it must make her feel like she’d done something right…to have boys (not just one, but two) receive awards testifying to their character. She said it was gratifying…but…

She had heard from someone once that it isn’t your children who determine your successful parenting, but your grandchildren. To which I’m pretty sure my response was “Oh…shoot”

I guess we all want our children to be perfectly behaved, polite, small versions of ourselves. We want them to come out knowing how use manners and sit respectfully and be seen and not heard. Realistic? Probably not. Have you met a child lately? But we think this determines whether or not we are successful as parents. I know that I’m as guilty of this as anyone. But, perhaps it doesn’t determine our success. Perhaps our success should be based on whether we took solid advice from our parents, and learned by their example. Perhaps it is about how much they taught me and how well I absorbed it in order to be the best parent for their grandchildren that I am capable of being.

Goodness, I hope they’re not horrified. My newest thought now in parenting…it all still comes back to making your parents proud. If my children are a reflection on them, why wouldn’t I want to do the best job possible in order to make them look good??

Perhaps next time someone comments on how well-behaved my my children are (assuming this happens), I’ll mention how they’re a reflection on my parents, and hope they (my parents) don’t cringe.

And for the record…and for what it’s worth, I think they’ve done an amazing job at parenting and hope to someday have the same things said about me.