The Power of One – Food Item that is…

As I was eating lunch yesterday, it occurred to me that I was starting to make a shift in my attitude towards food. It reminded me of one of the things my coach told me at the very beginning:

If you think of yourself as an active person and use food as a fuel to rejuvenate that active self, I think it will go a lot further than “dieting”.

The big change in attitude – I can now order just one thing when I go to Taco Time (and for those counting it’s usually a vegetarian soft taco). Before, I always had to order more than one thing when I went to Taco Time or any other fast food restaurant. I was always afraid one thing wouldn’t be enough. I thought I needed more. I thought I wanted more. Now I’m starting to order one thing and be okay with it.

The sister of always getting more than one thing to eat is that I always ate until everything was gone. For me, that was how I measured full. When the food’s gone, I must be full. But after the Chilly Hilly on Sunday we went out to lunch at a mexican restaurant. I burned 2,400 calories on the ride according to my watch, and that definately seemed accurate based on the way I felt. But as hungry as I was, I was satisfied with over half my meal left. To be fair, that was one huge plate and one big meal. It wasn’t like I ate like a bird, I ate a lot. But there was more than I needed, so I took it with me. In my 45 years of life, I can probably count the times I’ve taken food from a restaurant on two fingers (and I’m not sure about the other one).

I have thought a lot about why it is that I eat like I do. I also, by the way, am a fast eater. Better shovel it in there before it gets away. I know growing up that I never went without, but it did seem like there was always just enough, never too much. I grew up as the last of three boys, all one year apart. We were not fussy eaters; I think because if you stopped to complain about your food, it would all be gone. Seconds tended to go to whoever finished their plate first, and there wasn’t that many seconds to begin with.

Again, we never went hungry in our house; I was blessed with all I needed growing up. But somewhere along the line I took on an attitude of scarcity instead of abundance. I know that there is plenty of food available, 24 hours a day. Yet when I ate, I was eating from scarcity – always afraid I wouldn’t get enough. Somehow not trusting that more would be available if I needed it.

Now, I’m trusting more. First of all, it’s better to eat more often with smaller meals. So I started eating less and telling myself it was part of the strategy. Even my eating less was probably eating more than I needed at one sitting. But over the the last two months, I have noticed my habits are changing. I am naturally eating less. I am naturally thinking about what I need to eat for the exercise level I have planned for the day. I am starting to think more like an athlete. It’s a wonderful change.

Now I’m off to eat my oatmeal. For the record, I still eat two packages of oatmeal…