25. July 2009 by Patricia.

For me there is nothing like plunging my hands into the earth – planting seeds, watching them grow and eating the fruits of my labor.

This season creatures munched the tops off my beans. I don’t mind sharing, but these somebodies ate every bean seedling. Other plants weren’t faring well either, so I got serious about investigating the cause. An infestation of pill bugs! According to my vegetable gardening book they are not usually a problem, but in high numbers damage to seedlings can be severe. Yep! That was it! My garden is organic and I am sensitive to killing insects, so I set about scooping up these pill bugs and moving them away from my vegetable garden.

Not knowing what was going on left me feeling victimized, while simply diagnosing the problem made me feel in charge and happier. I believe we experience similar emotions when it comes to eating issues. Simply getting clear on where we are stuck is a first step to feeling in charge and becoming happier. Then the real work of formulating an action plan and changing a habit can begin!

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18. July 2009 by Patricia.

I love our neighborhood hike and bike path.  Even more so now that it has become a regional trail and I can bike 7 miles one way to Twin Lake Falls. Sometimes I feel tired and I’m not sure I can make it all the way there and back – 14 miles! – but the Falls draw me. The path ends about ½ a mile beyond the Falls. I could stop at the Falls, but for the sake of completion I always feel compelled to ride to the end of the trail.  

I bring this up because I find a similar desire for completion when I eat an apple, pear or orange. I rarely eat less than the whole fruit. This wouldn’t be a problem except that most fruits today are triple the serving size they once were. Somehow it feels strange to eat only half an apple, a slice of pear, or a quarter of an orange.

I ask myself, “can I stop eating a fruit the moment I feel satisfied?”

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11. July 2009 by Patricia.

I’ve been Diet Free for about 23years. This doesn’t mean I am a normal eater. Sometimes stress gets the better of me or I fall out of my meditation program. Sometimes triggers and old patterns rear their heads and derail my attempts to find my center. But I know what the track is… it’s a journey. It’s okay to be unconscious for a while; I know that I will get back in sync with myself. My life is no longer about searching for another diet.

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4. July 2009 by Patricia.

Have you encountered thin people who never had a weight issue and who think those of us with weight issues lack self-discipline? If we had enough will power, we wouldn’t eat so many cakes, cookies, doughnuts and desserts?

I don’t believe that we lack will power or self-discipline. I’ve had long periods of healthy eating – modest amounts of unprocessed foods together with vigorous exercise for weeks at a time – and still not reached a desired weight. So what is going on?

If losing lbs is a goal, we need to be curious about everything we put into our mouths when we are not hungry.

Let’s say at mid afternoon you are not really hungry but you feel bored, tired, frustrated or stressed and you decide to have an apple as a snack. These days apples provide at least 150 calories. Now suppose you eat this healthy food as a snack every day for a month even though you aren’t hungry. That’s 150 extra calories a day, 1050 extra per week or an extra 4200 calories a month. If a deficit of 3500 calories is needed to lose 1lb of fat….. you see where I am going with this.

It’s helpful to remember that all foods, healthy or not, contain calories. If we are not losing the lbs desired, we can increase our activity level, cut back on foods we are eating when we aren’t hungry, or both.

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