Embrace More Less Speed

Have you experienced the COVID 19-19? If you have found yourself gaining a few extra pounds over the course of stay home orders you are not alone! I admire people who can practice self control and in stressful time not feel urge to over indulge. There is such a thing as boredom eating and this is something I struggle with every day. So when COVID hit and I was resolved to staying home I found it quite difficult not to enter my kitchen and pantry throughout the day. I am hugely motivated by food in both positive and negative ways. I fell victim to the pressure of stocking up the freezer and pantry so I bought extra of everything and had stashed of peanut butter, rice, and flour. When I was bored I baked a cake or pie. Boredom cooking is a classic behavior that I engage in usually with the purpose to share the food. This is how I rationalize still playing with food and being in the kitchen. I have met with nutritionists and dietitians over the course of my adult life I have worked on a variety of strategies for improving my eating habits around food choices, meal prep, low carb, high protein etc. The one thing that gets me more than anything is boredom eating... it is probably my biggest problem! So as a social worker I study human behavior, triggers, wellness, and I know better then to spin my wheels intellectualizing how to loose weight and dig in to the deeper issues. In my intellectual research I read that "The root cause of boredom isn’t empty time, or repetition, or having to do any one particular thing. The real cause of (most) boredom is a feeling of meaninglessness." and also "Emotional eating refers to consumption of food for the purpose of regulating one's emotional states." Common reasons for why we eat: • Physically hungry—you may feel your stomach growl, have a headache or feel shaky • Stress/emotional eating—turning to food to cope with emotions • Boredom eating—turning to food when bored • Mindless eating—eating without awareness of what, where or how much you're eating • Craving—eating because you are craving something specific So I check pretty much all the boxes. I do tend to skip meals due to fast pace work schedule and miss a meal therefore become physically hungry. I also eat my feelings...definitely turn to food to cope with my emotions. Boredom...check. I walk into the into the pantry for no reason and some false hope that I will find my purpose in life near the almond butter and dark chocolate. Mindless eating...yup a handful of nuts while watching Netflix turns quickly into 3 servings! Craving I would rate the least of my eating habits concerns. There is a rare occasion I want a specific dessert or homemade dish, but it is more directed at comfort and the idea that I ate that as a child and it made me happy. The list of suggestions by both my dietician and nutritionist include 1. Detox carbs by not buying them or hiding them for a week. 2. Create quick grab portion controlled snacks. 3. Stack up on protein with each meal 4. More Water. More Water. More Water. 4. Keep to a schedule and stay busy! 5. Prioritize exercise first then eat. Tomorrow I turn 45 and with that I feel compelled to take on my health back. The COVID -19 19ibs will not get the best of me.

I have three kids whom all have the itch to create in the kitchen. I created these monster chefs and now everyday I struggle with embracing the "moment and the mess." I decided to go back to grad school in 2013. I was working a part-time, taking full time classes, and completing clinical hours, a requirement for my program. My husband was climbing the corporate ladder and had a demanding job. I had three kids at home ages 6, 7, and 10. I was the meal planner, grocery shopper, and chef. I gladly took on this role in my marriage. Full disclosure... I never mowed a lawn or paid a bill in the last 16+ years of marriage. It was fair trade off. With the chef gone (me) three nights a week the fast food bill became grotesquely out of control. My husbands most fallible decisions are usually around food. I had to step in. The one time I am so glad I fell for a click bait ad on Facebook, because the moment I clicked on Blue Apron my life changed! It was like the heavens parted and God sent an angel to me in the name of meal prep delivery. No more meal planning or grocery shopping?! While I loved these two things, my precious time was shifting towards research papers and grad school projects. I had to relinquish something. I put away my food planner and signed up for meal subscription by Blue Apron. Everything was in place, all I needed was a chef and I happen to have three! Our first Blue Apron was supervised by me. We had a few lessons in knife skills and basic cooking techniques like how to slice, chop, julienne, roast, sear, bake, or cream something. It wasn't long and they were on their own quickly mastering many recipes. For the next year they ate balanced healthy meals for at least the three nights a week I was not home. I however was in class til 9pm and often missed out on the amazing meals. I am not so much saddened by that thought. I did miss the time with my family at the dinner table over the course of those 2 years, but this program birthed three competent kids in the kitchen. In the greater scheme of things missing those final dishes is inconsequential ~ as the result of mastering those recipes lives on. Every day I see the moments and the messes of their creations in every pot, pan, and spoon dripped in coulis, hollandaise, or bechemal. The glossy Blue Apron sheets with compounded grease stains from reuse. Needless to say, I was officially demoted from chef to busboy and dish washer. Cooking has become therapeutic in our home. I see how they have acquired the satisfaction of watching others enjoy their food and the pride of making it. It has evolved into the notion that when they set a table and serve the food; those who gather around it will be full, connected, laughing, and nourished. I call our kitchen island the heart of our home. It truly has a heartbeat an energy that surges through the hallways and stairwells. When a pot of tamales simmers on the stove the "kitchen heart" pushes the smell of masa throughout the house. It smells like home and tastes like family. Lets hear your stories and how food as connected your family? What age do you think is appropriate to start cooking? I say as soon as they can sit and hold their head steady. Prop them up and let them watch you from their high chair. Give them food to feel, taste, and make a mess with. Check out other families and how they include their little ones in the kitchen. I love little Roman cooking with his mama, he can't be but 2 years old! This video shows the witty slapstick personality of my middle son as he cooks his first Blue Apron meal, Hoisen-Glazed Roast Pork. *Disclaimer: I am not an endorsement for Blue Apron nor receive monetary gain from this post. 1st Blue Apron Meal

I believe that as we grow we unlearn so many important skills given at birth. As adults we spend far too much time intellectualizing on how to get those skills back. Sometimes we got to make it simple and get back to basics. It is my belief that one of the greatest gifts we were inherently are given at birth is mindfulness. A babies inherent appreciation for world around them is so keen. They own the ability to breathe and appreciate the immediate world around them like the smell of their mother when they first enter the world. My memory doesn't allow me to feel that but when I see human life just born, their reaction to just the touch or smell of their mama is incredible and the joy they feel when being swaddled. I think they are simply using their biological gift of mindfulness.They are so aware of the moment and grounded in it. As we grew into young toddlers our gift of mindfulness is still intact as we often stopped to smell the roses, followed a bug crawling on the sidewalk, and took notice of the bird or plane flying overhead. Inquisitive and fully present in the world in front of them. When was it we began to unlearn this skill? Why did it fade away? Naturally so we began to develop into intellectual creatures and our need for problem solving and adapting to the world took over. I know we can't go about our everyday willy-nilly and distracted chasing butterflies and wooing at things that fly by, but we absolutely can take the opportunity to have a mindful life. So...how do you lead a mindful life? Are you are the organized-stick-to-a-schedule kinda person who leaves little room for down time, or the hot-mess-express who feels overwhelmed with chores and activities and lost in a sea of mix matched socks. Maybe you are the busy career parent/person who works 40/hr a week and has no time for yourself and spends nights eating fast food in your car and running kids to activities (that is me!). Do you sometimes go through the motions so fast you don't remember doing them? (That is me too!). I tend to have two speeds fast or slow. When I am on, I am on and can power through a list of chores like a mad woman! When I am off, I tend too be too off, and wastefully-unpurposed. I might be busy but not productive. When my conscious identifies that I am swinging to far to one end of the spectrum, I take a moment wherever I am and do a mindfulness exercise such as grounding. I remind myself of where I am in this moment and I might ask myself "how is this very moment impacting my day and what is my purpose?" My immediate mindset is moved to making a more cognizant choice and become more centered in the moment. For those of you not familiar with the term grounding it simply means "being content and connecting to the present moment". It is most effective when feeling overheard or stressed. It works to reset your brain so that you can be more focused or perhaps more clear headed. Grounding can be hard to explain as it is defined more in the spiritual sense and how one feels with the world around them. To achieve grounding one can do different exercises. It can be 10 seconds of breathing quietly before making my next move, or a minute glancing around the room naming off things I can see, feel, touch, or hear. For a deeper spiritual experience once might spend 10-20 minutes or more in meditation or progressive muscle relaxation. If your immediate need is simple and can be improved by breathe work do that, and do it often! If your needs are more complex take time and find a place to focus and complete a longer exercise. It is better always better to take some time to do an exercise than never do any at all! On a typical night I get home from around 5ish, in a rush to take kids to their activities. I call them to warn them I am 5 minutes away HONK in the driveway and they rush out and off we go. I proceed to run from activity to activity squeezing in a grocery errand, or trip to post office! It isn't uncommon for me to drive the same route from the dance studio to my driveway 4-6x in one night. If I remember to throw in a pair of tennis shoes I will walk for 30 minutes while my son is at piano lessons. I have been known to sit at the park nearby alone just sitting in a swing to breathe and meditate for a few moments before the next thing. These small gestures are how I keep fueled as a career parent. Now...I wanna hear from you! Start talking, share, and comment your wisdom, tips, tricks, and creative ways that get you through this busy life with mindful practices inserted in moments where we are overwhelmed and busy! How do you ensure that you are using tenants of mindfulness in your day to make "It A Mindful Life"? Please share openly and respectfully. Rude or negative comments will be removed.