Tired but satisfied

Naturally Thin: Day 3 

Rules 4 and 5

So I'm through with Day 3 of my Naturally Thin Challenge. I have to say, I've gotten more out of this challenge already than I thought I would in a week!

I'm learning to be more conscious and honest with myself about my eating habits. Why do I eat what I do? The answer has been surprising to me at times!

This brings me for rules 4 and 5. 

Rule 4: Pay Attention. 

How many times do you shovel down a meal because you're SO hungry, or distracted, and don't even realize what the food tasted like? 

With our busy lives, sometimes it's hard to stop & take a few moments to concentrate on what we're eating. But Bethenny stresses this rule isn't supposed to be obsessive or interfering. She gives some tips on paying attention, some of my favorite include: 

• TASTE your foods
• Don't eat mindlessly 
• Become choosier, only eat foods that you really want- you'll enjoy them more and eat less 
• Chew your foods, slowly 
• Don't multitask, focus on eating 
• Tune into your food prep; make everything special 
• Be a food snob of sorts; only eat what's good.

And my favorite: Think like an Italian. Make eating an event. Italians spend time eating, they never eat while driving or watching TV. Meal time is sacred. 

All in all, the point being- savor your food. Eat more slowly, enjoy your food, and you WILL eat less! 

Rule #5- Downsize NOW. 

We all know America is out of control with portions. This rule is not meant for you to be deprived, or get crazy with measuring cups and counting peanuts. It's about learning that you don't need to supersize to be satisfied. By eating smalelr portions, you can eat ANYTHING, so chances are you'll end up more satisfied, and therefore eat less. Bethenny gives some tips for downsizing and proper portions, such as eating off of smaller dishes, and learning sizes for items, such as meat and grains. 

She also touches on habit. Why are you eating two of something? Is it out of habit, or because you really want two?? If it's the latter, by all means have two. That's a good investment. If it's the former, just have one. It's not worth it. Listen to your food voice, know your preferences. 

"Don't cheat yourself," she says. YOU know when it's too much, or just enough. 

Kristin's Thoughts: I'm learning to downsize some, although I'm genearlly good with portions. Paying attention is my issue. In fact today at lunch I was writing this post, when I should have been paying attention to the delicious food in front of me. 

Speaking of food, here were my eats for the day: 

1 cup Optimum power with soy milk and a banana before work 

At work: 

Some Go Raw chips for a snack, a big baggie of veggies and some of my mom's onion baked chicken from the night before for lunch. 

For a snack, I had a banana bran muffin. 

I tried to go on a run this afternoon after work, but I was SO tired I ran 25 minutes and that was all I could manage. At least I got out there, but I was miserable, so I stopped. No reason to push myself if it wouldn't have made me feel any better. 

After my run I showered and my friend Katrina picked me up, and we went on a dinner date to our favorite- Crazy Burger!! We decided to share tonight, which saved us money and calories, and I think it was a great choice. I felt very Naturally Thin, eating until I was full and then stopping! I had appetizers, dinner and dessert and didn't feel stuffed at all! 

We started out with Pacific Rim Rolls (mini chicken spring rolls) with peanut dipping sauce. I had half; 4- they were tiny. 

For dinner we split a burger- the vegan Birdie Mae burger, made with tempeh in a tomato tortilla, and some sweet potato fries with Crazy Burger Ketchup. I ate the whole burger half but only ate half the fries. 

We decided we wanted dessert, so we ordered the Cookie Split- A cookie with ice cream, whipped cream, banana and chocolate syrup. Oh man was it delicious! I had 1/2 the cookie with some ice cream and whipped cream. We each ate a good amount but hardly made a dent- we probably each ate 1/8-1/4 of it. 

Afterwards we took a trip to the tattoo parlor to talk to the artist about getting tattoos next week(!!) and headed back home. We had so much fun, I'm so glad she's home from school!

As I mentioned, I am super tired from not getting much sleep last night (tossing and turning) and working 7 hours, so I'll be in bed pretty soon! G'night!