The Power of Tuning in to How Full You are Getting

I really can't say enough about getting yourself in the habit of always paying attention to how full you are getting while eating. This one practice alone will not only enable you to control your intake as you implement it every time you eat, it will reduce the amount of food it takes to get you full! That, my friends, is the key. Now I said enable, and by that I mean it will give you the awareness you need to take action. The action being to pull yourself up short and stop eating when you realize you are full or about to be. That takes will power and discipline because it is so easy to ignore the realization that you are full and keep shoveling it in, especially if the food is really good. If you can stop yourself from eating when you reach this point every time, you will notice that it takes less and less food to get you to that point. So what you are doing is gradually reducing the size of your stomach and its capacity to hold prodigious amounts of food. This is the slow and non-invasive version of that stomach operation that is all the rage now. I can't imagine having to resort to something so drastic as that surgery. The people that do it obviously can't reduce their intake for one reason or another. I still can't feature it though, because there are just to many things you can do, (ahem) like apply the tips I am giving you  here, for instance.

I'm telling you, if you can tune in, and I use the word "tune" because you have to set your antenna to the station, if you will, that monitors the feedback you are getting from your body and brain, you will absolutely be amazed at how it will decrease the amount of food necessary for satiation. This provided, of course, if you will heed the message and discontinue eating. Now I'm not telling you to slam on the brakes as soon as you feel yourself getting full. Nothing could be farther from the truth, you just need to realize you are getting full and start thinking about how you can stop and then work into it gradually, allowing yourself to eat a little more as you approach the tipping point. A good thing would be to pause and think, then when you resume eating, SLOW DOWN, because you are near finished and slowing down will allow you to prolong the experience and the enjoyment, especially if the food is great. That way you won't come away feeling deprived or cheated out of putting on a good feed bag. So the trick is to ease yourself from the eating process. If you can do this, and you can if you make up your mind, you will start to see those excess pounds rolling off in no time.

Now go and make up your mind you are going to do this starting with your very next meal!
 See tip # 3...

Eating Yourself into Major Health Problems

This is another example of someone experiencing disabling health problems and setting the stage for even greater health issues because of an unbridled appetite. Yesterday I was at the other local food market, a grocery store because it does not rise to the level of supermarket, that I frequent. It was early Friday evening and it was pretty quiet, such that the check-out lady was flipping through the advertisements in a local newspaper when I walked up to pay for my single item, a half-pound of that Mickleberry Baked Ham that I mentioned in the previous post. It was on sale, and I always snap it up when it is, because it is a little pricey. Even at full price though it is well worth it, because it is a delicious baked ham. One of the things I love about it is there's no sugar of any form added to it. It's just the pure taste of a perfectly baked ham. I don't know if there's any connection but lately the last couple of times I've bought it, I've found myself in a conversation about someone who became grossly overweight later in life and caused themselves unnecessary health problems. So when I stepped up to the register I said hello to her. She's someone I've struck up a familiarity with because she remembered me from the other local supermarket that I go to where she once worked. She immediately started lamenting the fact it was going to be a long slow night. She then allowed that she needs a job where she can sit down, and I agreed with her saying that I can't work a job anymore where I'd have to be on my feet either. She then said her brother can't be on his feet anymore. To which I asked how old he was. She shot back "he's 49". I replied incredulously "only 49". "He's still young" I said. When you get into your sixties 49 is young. So I asked what his problem is and she immediately said his weight. As he got older he just started eating more and more to where he's carrying the kind of weight that crushes your joints. She said he was never overweight and was a good-looking guy when he was younger. Then she proceeded to blame it on his wife, whom, I think it's safe to say, she has no love for. While she was still muttering on about her sister-in-law, I bid my adieu and walked out of the store.

So why am I sharing this with you? I guess because there are examples all around us of people who are systematically destroying their health, stamina and ultimately their lives as a result of their failure to take a step back and ask themselves a probing question like "Why am I doing this to myself?". Instead they resort to the mindless resignation of just doing the same thing over and over without any regard for the long-term damage being done. I guess that's the easiest thing to do. Besides, eating is a pleasurable activity and gives us that feeling of being loved. Remember that Pillsbury jingle, "Something lovin from the oven"? The problem is it's only love up to a point then the love changes to self-loathing. If this describes you, and you don't think the Pillsbury dough boy has a particularly appealing physique, then isn't it time you took that mental step back for some introspection as to why you do the things you do? That is where the journey starts, in the theater of the mind. If this post is speaking about you, then let the journey begin now.
Also Tip #5....

On Eating Yourself to Death

The other day I was at my local supermarket waiting my turn for service at the deli counter, and there was an elderly gentleman standing next to me who was ahead of me in the queue. When he ordered the Mickleberry baked ham that I was about to order, I struck up a conversation with him about how good that particular brand of ham is. I did this for a couple of reasons the first of which is my appreciation for the ham and the second of which is I like talking to elderly people. This guy looked to be close to the age my dad was when he passed away, 82, and I guess it just strikes a sympathetic chord with me when I see someone in that age group. His response to me was that it had a little fat on it, but that at this stage of the game it did not matter to him. I replied that it is the fat that makes it taste good, and from there the thread went on about how people think they're getting a good piece of meat when it is very red with no fat in it, and we both agreed that meat with no fat is nothing but a piece of shoe leather once it is cooked. The majority of the public have been conditioned to think just the opposite and shy away from meat with any fat in it. Not me! I look for meat with fat, and if I spot a cut with little rivulets of fat laced throughout it, I pounce on it like a Puma just in case there are any other fat lovers nearby waiting to do the same. When you get a steak, or any other type of meat like that, it's like eating Prime grade meat but without the steep price tag, which makes it all the more enjoyable!

Back to my conversation with the seasoned citizen, his comment about allowing himself to indulge in a little fat consumption because of his advanced age led him to volunteer the story about his friend who recently passed away. After his friend retired all he did was sit on the couch and watch television day and night. That would be enough to make you want to end your life if not drive you absolutely starkers. The whole while what do you think he was doing? You guessed it, eating constantly, probably as a defense mechanism to keep from going insane. His weight balooned up to 290 lbs, and with that came a whole host of problems, not the least of which was Type-2 Diabetes. From there, as they say, it was all down hill, because he only lasted three years out of retirement. This is sad on at least a couple of levels: the guy obviously had no other interest outside of work and coming home to eat, watch television and sleep was all he did. When the work component was taken out of the equation, well he just did what he knew and that was watch TV, and eat. The guy did not have the initiative to find something other to do with himself than waste away on the couch. That is too bad, but, really, he's to blame for his own untimely demise, and, who knows, maybe he had a secret death-wish, and this was just his way of going out happy. Although I don't know how happy you could be once you contract Type-2; I don't believe that it's a picnic by any stretch. Anyone see the irony there?

This little anecdote shared with me by a complete stranger, although one I felt a kinship with, just got me thinking about the over importance we as humans attach to eating. My God, is it that important to just keep gorging yourself when it's so evident what it's doing to you? It's hard for me to fathom, but I guess not everyone shares my philosophy about eating. The question we all need to ask ourselves is very simple, and that is "Why?" Why do we eat the way we do? Then try to divine what your own special relationship with food is, and maybe you can gain some greater understanding why you eat the way you do. Once achieved you will have gone a long way towards not eating yourself to death!
 Tip #5 would apply here...