Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Watching TV

Hey,

I had a victory tonight. I am here instead of watching TV.

Yeah!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Telling

This is the summer that I am going to tell my eldest about his conception. I researched that kids usually do better if told before they are 9. He is 8. I have no idea how I am going to broach the subject. I think that I will go to a psychologist for advice and to work on my feelings.

I do have a book meant for a young kid that tells the story in a very simple way. I could use that.

What would you do?

Women, Food and G.d by Geneen Roth.

Okay, I have to start by admitting to having seen Geneen Roth on Oprah. I know that can be off putting for some, but I have to admit that I do watch occasionally. Now, Geneen Roth has written a number of books about compulsive eating that I have not read, but this one was great. I have long been a fan of NOT dieting as I always gain weight on diets. I find that conscious eating is the way for me. But over the last couple of years my weight has been on a gradual slide up and I was not happy. I felt helpless and ashamed. Reading WFG was just what I needed. It reminded me of the rules of eating. Her list is:

1) Eat only when you are hungry.
2) Eat sitting down in a calm environment. (Not the car)
3) Eat without distractions. No TV, reading, radio, or anxiety producing conversation.
4) Eat what your body wants.
5) Eat until you are satisfied.
6) Eat in the full view of others.
7) Eat with enjoyment, gusto and pleasure.

WFG talks about how we eat for oblivion. We need to escape the present moment, but eating does not help us if we get fat and unhappy. You need to be comfortable with living in the now. I have had to do a lot of work examining the lies that my brain tells me. You know how it goes. The kids are acting up and your brain says “I cannot stand this for another minute. I must start yelling right now. They should behave differently. I am a failure as a parent. I need a cookie...”.
I am working on stopping, and looking at what my brain is saying because I can stand it. Yelling does not help. I am not a failure. I am also not hungry.

I have tried to extend her rules to my replacement for seeking oblivion. I watch too much TV and I don’t really enjoy it. So here is my version of the rules for TV.

1) Watch TV only when you want to see what is on TV.
2) Watch only shows that you enjoy - physically, mentally and spiritually.
3) Stop watching when you are not enjoying it.

I cannot say that I have had complete success with the TV, but I have lost more than 5 pounds.