Observations of Purposeful Eating

So our trip was an opportunity for me to get to know my mother-in-law (I've only actually met her in person five times!) and also, incidentally, to observe her eating habits.

A lifelong skinny person, my MIL has what I have called Purposeful Eating habits.

*She takes small bites, and chews everything before another bite. No shoveling.
*She's very picky about what she actually takes a bite of, such as breaking off a piece of orange that seemed tough.
*She budgets her food, light breakfast knowing we'd be eating out for lunch.

It was interesting to watch. It got even more interesting with the book I got in the airport bookstore, called I Can Make You Thin. I don't so much go for the hypnosis side of things, but the four rules of eating really were good when I practiced all four of them at an airport restaurant.

1) Eat Only When You're Hungry
Its a duh thing, but how often do I eat something because its lunch time, or worse, because its there?

2) Eat What You Want, Not What You Think You Should
It talks about how your body will crave what you need. I believe it, because I crave vegetables and amazingly enough will realize I haven't had many lately. It also mentioned a study (I haven't found it yet) about toddlers who were given 24-hour access to a whole range of foods, from spinach to ice cream. Being allowed to eat whatever they want, whenever they want, they actually ate a completely balanced diet in a 30-day period. Your body really actually is that smart!

3) Enjoy Every Mouthful
I'm the queen of multi-tasking while eating. Computer, tv, work, phone, everything. I sat in the airport to eat my dinner and didn't do anything else. I'm realizing how much better food tastes when I slow down to enjoy it.

4) Stop When You Are Full
It was amazing, I was full (and stayed full) with a fraction of the food that I would have thought I'd eat.

I'm not a convert to his method, but the food guides were good reminders of things I already knew, and needed refreshed. These are definitely habits that my MIL employs! The jury is still out on the hypnosis and the tapping, but I'll let you know the results if I decide to give them a try! ;-)

Hope you all are having a fabulous week!