On the I Can Make you Thin program that I watched yesterday... one of the points that Paul McKenna tried to reference repeatedly was that people should eat consciously. This meant that they should pay close attention to how the food actually tasted (this makes sense as many fast food meals are strategically designed to trick our senses into thinking they taste better than they actually do) and to eat very slowly and deliberately. By "eating consciously" you are less likely to overeat and more likely to hear the signals from your body telling you that you've had enough. I totally buy into this. I also enjoy meals a whole lot more when I put my knife and fork down and take the time to enjoy the setting and the company... anyway...
Today I was going about my business. I ate a dinner of leftovers... it was ok. I had a rough day and I was still feeling hungry so I decided to make a yummy desert. I pulled out a bowl, started with plain low-fat yogurt and the remaining canned pumpkin from my fridge. I added some honey and a handful of dark chocolate chips. To finish it off I grabbed a small spice container that I thought had been left on the counter from making my oatmeal this morning - I thought it was pumpkin pie spice. Yummy cinamon, allspice, and cloves... perfect. I was wrong. It was the garlic powder that I left on the counter after making popcorn last night. Damn it! I had a beautiful bowl of pumpkin yogurt with honey and chocolate chips and I sprinkled garlic powder all over it. In an attempt to salvage the desert I found the pumpkin pie spice, added some and mixed it all up hoping that the garlic wouldn't be that noticeable. That didn't work. Bummer.
Desert yogurt number one got dumped in the trash while I toasted some bananas, honey, and a few more chocolate chips for desert yogurt number two. I left the garlic powder out of this version.
So much for unconscious eating... beware of unconscious cooking!
Showing posts with label Paul McKenna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paul McKenna. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
I can make you thin!
I don't know why, but I'm obsessed with weight loss. I think unpacking this obsession is going to take more than one post, so lets think of this as the first chapter in a continuing discussion. Personally... I guess I've always been attracted to a challenge. As a kid I wanted to get addicted to cigarettes just so I could be strong and show everyone that I could quit (I swear I truly remember having these thoughts on a regular basis). I still see a lot of evidence of this attraction to challenges in my life right now. For example, unlike many women I find myself slightly more attracted to men whom I have to chase. I'm turned off when men are too easily "won." But anyway, I'm aware of this romanticized idea I have of challenging situations... which can easily be applied to weight loss. My first instinct is that successful weight loss is a result of perseverance, willpower, and strength of character... and I'm well aware that the flip side of this statement involves blaming unsuccessful weight loss on weakness and a few other undesirable characteristics. I need to examine this, however, because there are a variety of factors that influence this view.
Personally... I have always been thin but in the last year I have lost about 20 pounds and am keeping it off quite easily (I actually lost a few more pounds accidentally since becoming a vegetarian... oops). But, I am proud of my body and my health; I feel like it is something I have worked for and accomplished. I don't want anyone to look down on that accomplishment as nothing special just because I had "thin / active" genes to start with. This is an initial, almost defensive reaction. On the other hand, I have no idea what it's like to really struggle with my weight. (My 20 pound weight loss brought me from 137 to 117... both of which are well within the healthy range for my 5'6 frame). My parents and my brother are all thin, healthy, and quite active. I can look around me and confidently say that the chances of me ever being overweight are slim to none. The moral of my personal story is that I don't want choices, will-power, and strength of character to be written off as contributing to health or obesity... but I also have no clue how much of my personal experience can be related to what others experience.
The inspiration for this reflection came from a television program that I taped the other night (because... as I said... I'm obsessed with weight loss) called I can make you thin. This show featured a British man named Paul McKenna who continually boasted that he had the golden rules for simple, permanent weight loss. I did like the rules that McKenna suggested because they seemed to be encouraging people to eat more consciously and enjoy their eating experience more. I believe that both of these are very important in order to have a healthy relationship with food. The thing that kept getting to me was how he reiterated how easy his program would be. He also told the audience over and over again that it was not their fault they were overweight. Is this the most productive way to think of the obesity epidemic? There's a quick fix out there and individuals really don't play any role in the epidemic... everyone is just a victim? I don't know.
Where's the line between crazy Mississipi legislation that makes it ok to discriminate against people to encourage them to loose weight (ultimately trying to emphasize personal responsibility for weight loss) and telling people who are overweight that they are not at fault and have just been innocent victims for years? Neither seem to be productive approaches to me, but where's the happy medium?
Personally... I have always been thin but in the last year I have lost about 20 pounds and am keeping it off quite easily (I actually lost a few more pounds accidentally since becoming a vegetarian... oops). But, I am proud of my body and my health; I feel like it is something I have worked for and accomplished. I don't want anyone to look down on that accomplishment as nothing special just because I had "thin / active" genes to start with. This is an initial, almost defensive reaction. On the other hand, I have no idea what it's like to really struggle with my weight. (My 20 pound weight loss brought me from 137 to 117... both of which are well within the healthy range for my 5'6 frame). My parents and my brother are all thin, healthy, and quite active. I can look around me and confidently say that the chances of me ever being overweight are slim to none. The moral of my personal story is that I don't want choices, will-power, and strength of character to be written off as contributing to health or obesity... but I also have no clue how much of my personal experience can be related to what others experience.
The inspiration for this reflection came from a television program that I taped the other night (because... as I said... I'm obsessed with weight loss) called I can make you thin. This show featured a British man named Paul McKenna who continually boasted that he had the golden rules for simple, permanent weight loss. I did like the rules that McKenna suggested because they seemed to be encouraging people to eat more consciously and enjoy their eating experience more. I believe that both of these are very important in order to have a healthy relationship with food. The thing that kept getting to me was how he reiterated how easy his program would be. He also told the audience over and over again that it was not their fault they were overweight. Is this the most productive way to think of the obesity epidemic? There's a quick fix out there and individuals really don't play any role in the epidemic... everyone is just a victim? I don't know.
Where's the line between crazy Mississipi legislation that makes it ok to discriminate against people to encourage them to loose weight (ultimately trying to emphasize personal responsibility for weight loss) and telling people who are overweight that they are not at fault and have just been innocent victims for years? Neither seem to be productive approaches to me, but where's the happy medium?
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