Am I a food addict?_Day 4 on Smoothies

It was a rough night yesterday. My son was not feeling too good and woke up few times. A sick baby leads to a sick mommy. I was up pretty much all night caring for me and more than that worrying about him. Hence, woke up little tired this morning. Headed straight to the kitchen and made myself a cup of warm tea. Felt totally awake and ready to take on the world after drinking it.

I had quite a bit left over smoothie (remember the one with bok choy, parsley, collard greens, celery) from last night and had it for my morning and mid-day meals.

Then around afternoon I walked towards my kitchen, grabbed a plate, filled it with some food (oatmeal and a side vegetable) and started munching on it; all while talking to one of my client's on phone. My original plan was to get some food for my son, but instead of serving him, I served myself. I was not hungry or craving any food at that time but distracted; I was for sure and without thinking I just kept eating. I am not the kind of person who beats myself up for anything but I honestly felt sick in the stomach. My body didn’t need any food at that time but I still fed it, which was obviously not well accepted by my body.

I do not drink, smoke or use any recreational drugs but this act of mine made me think if I am an addict--a “food addict” for that matter.

I have never been a thin person but after coming to US I changed from being average weight to overweight. I was enjoying my newly married life, exploring this new country, trying out different cuisines, eating out every night and before I even realized I had gained 30-lbs. For my short stature of 5-ft, a 154-lbs girl was definitely not a pretty sight. From being very active, I became lazy and lethargic. Then one morning I didn’t really like the person I saw in the mirror and more than that I got worried about the quality of my future life. At that time I decided to change my life for good.

But why did I wait till I was fat, sick and nearly dead (which, by the way is a great movie and one I highly recommend) to make these healthy changes. I have come a long way since then, but I still find it difficult to stick to my plans.

Why does our mind rule our eating? Why is it so difficult to stick to a plan that involves healthy eating? We eat when we are happy, we eat when we are sad, we eat while watching TV and we eat while talking on phone. We eat to celebrate birthdays, we even eat to celebrate deaths and from where I come from we even bribe GOD with his favorite food to please him and get things done.

Food dominates our life, every aspect of our life. It’s like we live to eat and not eat to live.

It’s so easy to fall prey to food in a society where soda is cheaper than water and there are more fast food joints than health food joints. We become victims to our own creations living in a world where packaged food is readily available and easier to find than the fresh produce.

Do external factors, catchy advertisements; media and marketing play the major role in our choice of food? Is it effect of the pleasure hormones released at the thought, smell and idea of food? Is our will power weaker than that piece of chocolate cake that we are so tempted to eat at a birthday party?

I cannot answer these questions for you. Only you know your body, your mind, your environment the best and can find answer to these questions. But what I do know is that I need to take care of this body because this is the only place I have to live in and there will never be a better day than today to start taking care of it.

Back to my smoothie for the day…

I went to the mall this afternoon to get some things. It took me longer than anticipated and I felt hungry. I thought of having a smoothie before I turn ravenously hungry and end up eating a cookie. I started looking for something in the food court and found an Edible Arrangement kiosk and one of their menu items was green smoothie. Hurray!

The only combination they had was pineapple, kale with add-ons like cantaloupe, honey dew or melon. I opted for pineapple, honeydew and kale smoothie.

Day 4_Meal 2

The good news:

There was something I could find at the mall so living healthy even on the go is not that difficult.

The bad news:

A small cup of smoothie (I think it was 8-oz) was priced at $6.95.

McDonald’s 10-oz iced coffee is only $1.85. No wonder people opt for this!

But again, either we save now by eating unhealthy or we save later by eating healthy now and avoiding trips to the doctor later. Choice is totally ours!

Gratitude Day 4…

I honestly thank my body today for making me realize that I need to eat more mindfully.

I thank all the people who make their mission to eat healthy. It’s because of the choices they make that we have healthy food options available to us in most places now.

Prayers Requests for Day 5…

I really need all your prayers so that I stick to my plan. Even if I make thousand mistakes, I am not willing to give up.

Off for a walk now.. My brain needs some fresh air!

Good night!

P.S. To all my friends who are concerned that I am eating too little. The truth is I am not. I make enough smoothie at a time which I eat till I am full and then eat again every 2-3 hours. I just document the highlights in my blog.