Day 1 – Andrea

Hi there! Today was a very exciting day. The first thing I did when I woke up was run to get my computer and see the challenge of the day. I printed the file to use every time I ate during the whole day. I also saved the file so I could go back and read it later.

As a busy mom, I don’t have much time. So, I read the tips carefully for the day, along with some other tips I found on Dr. Albers ’website, and off I went to fight my eating habits.

My first experience of timing my pace was during breakfast. In my home country, we don’t eat a big breakfast, so I always have a coffee with one slice of toast. While I was preparing the coffee I could smell the delicious aroma and I started to be mindful of it. When I sat at the table with my coffee and toast, I thought about the two adjectives to describe my toast (I like my toast with American cheese on top, weird!?)  I took a moment and observed the nuts and grains in the bread, and the color of the cheese. After smelling it, I took the first bite. I put the toast on the plate, and I paid close attention to the texture and flavor. Before taking my second bite, my 3 years old daughter was starting her breakfast, so I thought she could do the same exercise of finding adjectives for her breakfast. She was going to eat a piece of toast and an egg. The adjectives she picked were hot, yellow, and white. I thought that it would be great if from a young age we learn how to eat mindfully. While we were having breakfast, we were talking and I was sharing the tips to eat slower with my husband. I was surprised that probably took three times longer to eat than it usually takes me each morning. At the end, I felt satisfied and ready to take on the day.

I did the same exercise at lunch eating my sandwich, putting my sandwich on the plate and taking breaks between bites. I didn’t time it, but I know I ate slower.

Today was my day to drive to my university. I got a coffee for my 3 hour drive. Normally, by the time I arrive to the edge of the town where I live, I am almost done with my coffee. This time I took the time to smell it and savor the flavor. I had driven almost one hour from home and still had warm coffee in my travel mug. Between sips, I called my family in Argentina on the phone, my husband to check on my daughter, and I thought a lot about how eating slowly affected my humor today. I felt like I had power and control over my eating.

In the class I am taking at the university there are only 20 people. Since it is a Montessori class, the program is trying to create community amongst the students by having a snack break in the middle of the section where we all eat together. Each class, one student brings a snack for the rest of their classmates. There are always many delicious things like cookies, chips and dips, fruits, and chocolates. Today while I was eating, again I took my time. I put my hands on my lap and I stopped to watch how my classmates were eating. Surprisingly, I was the last one to finish eating and it was not because I had more food than them, but because of the techniques I was trying.

I am extremely happy how the day went. I shared the tips with my sister from Argentina who already asked me to type everything in Spanish for her. Another friend of mine was going to try to sign up for the challenge although she hasn’t been speaking English very long. This seems to be an issue for people all over the world who have been dieting and being counting calories for years. Hopefully this way they too will learn to enjoy food at a slow pace and will help many of us alter those bad habits of eating that make us struggle with food.