Yesterday I felt very sad because of my niece's illness and her decline. I also learned that my aunt who will be 101 years old in December and who has been leading a Sr's exercise class this year (she's amazing!) has also been very ill.

So last night I wanted to get out of my house. When I feel upset, I bolt! I head to one of my favorite restaurants where I am surrounded by people and a warm environment. I use the food to comfort me. I've been able to pretty easily stay home this week during those times and to be very satisfied to serve myself a little meal in my lovely bowl.

Last night the pressure built to the point I needed to get out. So I went to a quiet place nearby and had a small salad, a reasonable dessert and some decaf. A little meal. When I got home I felt bad (I often do when I go out from habit), but this time it was not because of the food I had chosen, but for the over the top difference in cost of having a small meal for dinner instead of lunch.

Then suddenly I felt better, because that's a positive shift, too: to move my habitual uncomfortable reflection to the money instead of to the food.

Changing one's perception rocks!

Monday morning, first thing, has been my weigh in day for many years. Last week, getting on the scale was such a treat. I had found that in four days I had lost five pounds. Today one more. A total of six pounds in ten days? Happy me!

These ten days have been an adventure in perception and in getting to know myself better. I see a change in my face and feel change in the fit of my clothing. I have gone out to eat several times, having been invited out by one friend and another. Ordering food has been from a more mindful place. One evening a friend and I shared a sandwich and salad, so I ate half the amount I usually do. One morning, my best friend and I shared a veggie scramble, so again I ended up eating half of my ordinary amount. Another morning I saw that it was possible to order one serving instead of two of the huevos rancheros, so I did that. I took myself out to lunch one day and took half my meal home. Nearly always I eat the other half on the same day, meaning to wait until the next. This time, I waited gladly until the next day.

All the above accounts are new behaviors and all of them are because I held the image of my little bowl in mind. My bowl gave me boundaries I didn't keep for myself in the past. It's a measuring tool I now use to gauge how much to serve myself.

For ten days now it has worked very well!

Two evenings ago I had 3.6 ounces of ice cream after dinner. In the night I woke feeling discomfort with a blocked sinus. I've always thought it was chocolate that did that to me (and maybe it does, also), but now I have a new piece of information. Perhaps it was ice cream (and other dairy?) all along. More reasons to like using the One Bowl way of eating. It makes it easier to search for foods that don't agree well with me.

Then yesterday afternoon I met a friend in town for lunch and had talapia, rice and veggies. I usually eat the entire meal, but this time I brought half of it home with me. When I do that I often eat the rest of the meal later in the day (in addition to dinner). It's part of my problem with not being able to stop myself. Again, the image of one bowl made it so easy to leave it in the refrigerator overnight. I had oatmeal ready to cook in the morning, but I decided to have the rest
of the talapia instead. I love having lunch or dinner types of meals for breakfast. Lunch was a roasted veggie salad with a T. of dressing. I had one tiny piece of french bread with about 1/4 tsp of butter. All much less than I ordinarily have. Then for dinner (can you guess?) I had the oatmeal that I skipped this morning. I had a latte late morning and then a splurge of a second latte a little later. Two lattes in one day might happen only 2 or 3 times a year. Today was one of them.

I feel good about the meals I've had and the amounts this week. The slow cooker beans that didn't quite get done yesterday are on the stove right now cooking so that I can have them for both lunch and dinner tomorrow. I'll have a large salad, too.

Tonight, while I was eating the last half of my oatmeal, I stepped outside and ate the rest of it standing as I watched a dramatic sunset. Yes, standing, if the spot is beautiful and serence is recommended also while eating. This approach makes me happy.

So much of what I am hoping to accomplish is to break my addiction to going out to eat instead of preparing food for myself at home. Yesterday evening when it came time for dinner, I was prepared to have the curried meal that was in the slow cooker. There were beans in the pot and I discovered that they were far from done. My first thought was to go out instead and nine times out of ten that's what I would have done. But, then I really listened to myself and got that, no, I wanted to stay home. So I made myself the most delicious veggieburger for the second day in a row and enjoyed it thoroughly. It felt so good to know I wasn't making myself eat at home, but rather I truly wanted to. That has been happening more and more frequently lately. I have a feeling that it will become my new and very welcome habit.

It is one week today that I've been following the One Bowl Method. Its image when I am away from home is creating as much change in the way I think about food as when I actually eat from it. I ate at a restaurant yesterday afternoon and with my little bowl in mind, I ordered the smallest and lightest meal on the menu. In observing the food on my plate I gauged that it would fill my bowl twice which is most likely the amount that I would eat if I were at home. In addition I had enough guacamole to fill one bowl. Even though the meal was fairly calorie laden, it worked, because breakfast and dinner were each one bowl and both very low in calories.

The memory of the bowl not only made me aware of how much food I was choosing to have, but it caused me to reflect on the kinds of considerations I had in the above paragraph. For me, a chosen image is powerful when I use it to positively influence my thoughts, decisions and actions. It is the simplest and easiest method I've discovered for myself so far in the effort toward eating healthier and lighter. This is how it looks after having followed it for one week.

I have a long, full day ahead, so I only have a couple of minutes to post this morning, so I'm announcing this good news:

I am happy to say that the scale recorded that I am five pounds lighter than I was when I began this new adventure last week.

Today, because I'm working hard to establish a new routine for myself, I am posting several times.
From my list below, I dressed, wrote up a grocery list, shopped at Whole Foods, put the food away and had 2 small bowls of soup. I have now reached the last item on my list which is to make myself a big cup of tea and put my feet up. I am so ready to do that.

This evening when I heat up my soup I will cut up fresh, organic swiss chard and let it cook in the soup a few minutes. It's good now. It will even be better then.