Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Just a Carrot + Peanut Butter

This morning's workout doesn't take up too much space: 40 minutes on the elliptical, pedaling backwards the whole time just for funsies, plus 5 minutes stretching.  Tonight I will get the usual intense 90 minutes of musical stomping at folklorico.  We've got two performances coming up in June, so it's time to really lock down the choreography.

Had a good Intuitive Eating breakthrough last night.  On Saturday, I spent the morning on a long hike/run, then the afternoon helping some friends move.  On Sunday, I was a little eating machine all afternoon long.  Yesterday was my basic four--breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner--and I ate fairly light.  It's the body maintaining balance: eating more on certain days when there's a real need to refuel, and eating less on other days when hunger is lessened.

My favorite bit was when I finished dinner last night--turkey, potatoes, and sauerkraut--and asked myself if I wanted anything more.  I did.  What did I want?  Not something sweet.  Something crunchy, and a little rich.  A carrot and some peanut butter.  That was my dessert; it was perfectly satisfying and I was finished eating.  Intuition won!

I've got a friend who is asking for suggestions on losing weight, so that's something I plan to write more of in the days ahead.  Now, it won't actually suggestions about losing weight, because there's a big difference between "weight" and "health", but more about everything I've learned regarding the complexity of the situation.  It's definitely not just physiological factors, the actions of eating and exercising.  Psychology plays a major role.  Did you know that childhood trauma can have a major effect?  Here's another great article about the Adverse Childhood Events Study.  Also Ragen Chastain has written a lot about the connection between everyday stress, including fat shaming, and weight, so everyone should check out her blog at Dances With Fat.

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