The Enlightened Diet

I just finished reading a book called The Enlightened Diet, which summarizes what the authors believe are the main reasons Americans struggle with weight. I started reading it before I left Dallas, but I wasn’t ready for the message then, so I never really got into it. I’ve learned and am starting to put into practice some things that I’d love to share with you!

In my last post, I talked about my decision to transition to a primarily vegetable-based diet, and with the exception of a few moments that I refuse to feel guilty about (elk hotdogs, anyone?), I’ve stuck to it. I feel really good all the time… almost lighter, and cleaner, like my body is finally running the way it’s supposed to. I haven’t had heartburn or reflux once since I made the decision, and it was starting to be a nightly occurrence. It’s also much easier than I thought it would be, both in finding veggie foods, and in resisting the bacon. I’ve also been coming to this place of really trying to be completely aware and grateful for what’s on my plate when it’s time to eat. It seemed like it was finally the right time to read The Enlightened Diet.

 The authors narrow down the reasons American’s have such a struggle with weight to these seven principles:

• Food Fretting (calorie-counting, obsessing over fat content, yo-yo dieting)
• Task Snacking (eating while doing other activities, i.e., while sitting at the computer (guilty!) or watching tv)
• Emotional Eating (eating when we’re stressed out or depressed rather than when we’re hungry)
• Fast Foodism (eating food that isn’t whole and nutritious)
• Solo Dining (eating by yourself)
• Unappetizing Atmosphere (eating in a stressful or generally unappealing environment)
• Sensory Disregard (eating without appreciating the flavors, colors, textures, etc. of what you’re eating) 

They discuss different solutions to each of these individually, but the point they’re ultimately driving at is to strive to eat fresh, whole foods while appreciating the entire experience, fully aware of every sense, and doing so in a positive environment. I call it Conscious Eating, and I believe that this describes the relationship we’re meant to have with food. So this marks the beginning of my Enlightened Diet Experiment. I want to see how these moments of complete awareness and lucidity built into my day effect other aspects of my life. So far I’ve eaten both meals I’ve had today without turning on the computer, and trying to focus on the now without letting the Thought Parade take control. It's not necessarily an easy thing to do, but that's why it's called a practice. :)

As a side note, they claim to do this will cause you to lose weight without trying, without counting calories or going on a diet you can’t maintain. Weight-loss is not my intended goal, but it would certainly be icing on the cake. For the official record, today I weigh 138.5 lbs. I do not intend to weigh myself regularly, but I’m going to continue this practice and see where I’m at in a month.

As for our travels, there’s been a bunch going on in the last few weeks, which I do still intend to write about. This seemed more important today, but I’ll try to get a few more posts out this week to catch everyone up!