I’m reading Healthy Living From the Inside Out by Mariel Hemingway. She suggests 4 areas of focus to put your life into balance. They are: Food, Exercise, Silence, and Home. Since I am finally ready to do what it takes to lose the last few pounds from my last baby, I thought I would give this program a try.
Mariel Hemingway suggests that we only eat whole foods, not processed ones. Also, a well rounded diet with plenty of protein, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, etc. That seemed well rounded and healthy, so my journey began.
The first suggestion is to cut out “noisy” foods or foods that cause our blood sugar to rapidly go up and down and/or change our moods like caffeine, alcohol, sugar, and chocolate. I don’t drink alcohol or coffee, so the first two are easy for me. Sugar is harder. I cannot believe how often during the day I want to reach for a small snack. I always have candy on hand in one form or another. I hadn’t realized until I started to skip those snacks how dependent on them I was for a quick energy boost. The worst one is chocolate. I love rich, dark chocolate. I have stashes all over the house. It took me 4 days before I could go one day without eating chocolate. I couldn’t believe it.
I want to have chocolate whenever I want it. I don’t believe in cutting things that I love completely out of my diet unless they really are bad for you. But the realization that I could hardly go a day without eating a few pieces of fine chocolate was scary. I don’t eat a lot of chocolate usually, but it is always there when I need it. I don’t want to be addicted to it. Perhaps I need to relearn moderation. Hemingway describes moderation as having enough of those foods so you don’t feel deprived, but not so much that you can’t live without them. That sounds pretty moderate to me. I guess that cuts my chocolate consumption down to several times a week instead of every day in the late afternoon (and any other time I feel the urge).