21 October 2012

52-Week Challenge: Week Forty-Three

Wow.  I just realized that we are in the home-stretch of this 52-week challenge thing.  Less than ten weeks!   It seems unbelievable.  And I'm sure I've lost most (if not all) of my co-challengers along the way.  But no matter--I've been keeping up with it, and that was the goal all along.  Now, I'm not saying I'm still doing EVERYTHING, but I'm still doing my fair share of things.  Enough that I can say I've honestly "changed" this year.  Makes me excited to see what these last few weeks have in store.  So without further ado, onto this week's challenge.

This week, we are to "practice mindful eating."  Basically, mindful eating means being in a higher state of mental awareness around your eating patterns.  What kind of emotions lead to or come from eating?  Figuring this out can give the power to control your relationship with food, which can lead to an improved health, body image, and self-esteem.

The book outlines some tips on healthy eating, but I don't really feel like it's anything new or earth-shattering, i.e. nothing we haven't seen before in previous week's challenges.  So I'm not going to post any of it.  This week, just focus on your emotional state before, during, and after meals.  Doing so can help you determine why you eat (are you doing it because you're really hungry or just because you're sad/mad/angry)?  How do you feel while you eat?  If you're happier when you're eating than any other time, then you've got a problem.  Likewise, if you feel guilty or shameful while you eat, you have a problem.  Eating only when hungry and making healthy food choices can help alleviate these problems.

Good luck!

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