Ok, without getting too freaky on me, take a moment to get in tune with your stomach. Do it right now – feel your stomach.
No! Don’t touch it! You don’t know where that thing has been.
I mean, just sit still and tell me how your stomach feels. Does it feel full? Does it feel bloated? Does it hurt a little? Does it feel heavy?
If you feel any of these, then you are in a state called “OOGIE”. And we all know how Oogie feels (eating too much of a good/bad thing). When you come to know what Oogie truly feels like, then half the eating battle has been won!
Being “at one” with your Tummy
Part of becoming a WEMP is getting “in tune with your tummy.” And you can tell, just by feeling your stomach, whether you are full, whether you feel “oogie” (you’ve eaten too much or something bad), or whether you’re truly hungry and should eat.
Your stomach is the key – not your tongue or your mouth (they always seem to want something sweet, salty, or fattening). When you get in tune with your tummy, it can tell you – at the very moment when you are faced with food – whether you really want to eat or not.
Also, being in tune with your tummy will help you PREVENT the feeling of being oogie.
For example, most likely you have had the experience of eating a delicious chocolate chip cookie (if you don’t like chocolate chip cookies, just substitute your favorite food weakness). If you’re like me, you’ve probably eaten a chocolate chip cookie and liked it so much that you just had to have another – and then another, and another, and another.
And, you probably also remember how you felt after eating all those cookies – big time OOGIE! You just didn’t feel good afterwards. You knew that all those chocolate chip cookies were not good for you, your body, or your weight and you FELT it. One or two cookies and you probably would have felt OK. It was the overeating that produced the oogieness.
Knowing full well what that oogie feels like when you eat poorly, you can use that to improve your eating choices. If faced with a decision whether to eat something, first, get in tune with your tummy. Does your stomach feel like eating right now. If not, if you feel bloated, full, or oogie, then you can admit to yourself that you don’t really feel like eating. So, you don’t. Simple as that.
Your Eating Conscience
But let’s say that you do feel like eating something. Again, use your tummy to help you decide. If you want to eat and you’re faced with a plate full of chocolate chip cookies – get in tune with your tummy. You remember what that oogie feeling feels like when you’ve overeaten or ate poorly before. Imagine what your tummy would feel like if you dug into that plate of cookies. You know you’d feel oogie. In fact, you can almost feel that oogie feeling right at that very moment of decision. That will help you decide. You may have a cookie, if you want, but you probably will choose something healthier as a main course.
And always let your tummy be your guide (Jiminy Cricket got it wrong – at least when it comes to eating).
Now, getting in tune with your tummy gives you the wisdom to choose: whether to eat and what to eat.
But now comes the fun part….
Eating with Passion
When it comes to weight loss, we all know the problem with eating – we eat too much. But, we also eat way too fast!
Our eating speed impacts our eating quantity. We don’t slow down and really enjoy our food. Consequently, we shovel it in so fast, we end up shoveling more than we truly want or need.
That’s where WEMPS is different. The focus is on slowing down, really savoring your food, enjoying every bite to its fullest. When you do that, you’ll enjoy what you eat, you’ll eat enough – but not too much – and be able to walk away healthy and happy.
It’s like making love to your meal. Have a Meal of Passion.
Fix something you want to eat, then sit down, relax, and eat slowly. Chew your food thoroughly. Taste it. Really savor it. Put your fork down and talk to somebody across the table. Have a conversation – live in the moment. Focus on enjoying your meal.
And, once again, while you are eating, get in tune with your tummy. Slow down and get a sense of how your tummy is feeling. Eat until your tummy tells you you’re sated. Then, you’re done with a wonderful meal.
You sit down with a simple and tasty meal and slow down long enough to let your tummy tell you when you’ve enjoyed enough – and that’s a Meal of Passion.
Passionate Partaking!
March 19, 2011
Passionate Partaking