"Eat, Pray, Love"

In spite of the financial meltdown after the housebuild, we did manage to get Sky + (a TV package that means no video recorder is needed). This has revolutionised our TV habits in two ways; first, we have Sky! Just to have SOOO many channels is incredible (most of them are absolute rubbish, but hey!) and second, it means we always have a stash of stuff to watch when we do sit down in front of the big screen!

It won't come as any surprise that, for me, the BIGGEST joy is being able to access Oprah's daytime show; it is broadcast on Diva TV at 12 midday, everyday (FYI!). I don't need to be here; I just need to press the button to ensure it is taped. In fact, now I have discovered the 'series link' button, which means every show is taped. This is fantastic! It also means I can delete any Oprah shows that don't interest me - and there are, amazingly, more than a few.

So, yesterday, I was trying to embrace domestic chores (always a struggle) and do the ironing. I like to iron when there is something I specifically want to watch. (I'm beginning to think this all sounds boring - sorry. I'll cut to the chase!)

Oprah did a show about a book called, "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. The sub-title is "A Woman's Search for Everything", which certainly caught my attention.

I have not read this book yet so I'm not recommending it directly but in the same programme, Oprah was talking about Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which is one of my all time favourites. So, it's something you might want to look at although the reviews on Amazon UK aren't 100% fantastic. The author spends four months in India, praying, after being in Italy for four months (eating). Italy is my favourite country and my mother is about to go to India for the very first time on Sunday. This is a big deal - even though she was a hippy chick, she never made it there. She's going to meet a friend who is already travelling in India and I think she's going to LOVE it.

Anyway, the reason I decided to include Eat, Pray, Love was that the author and Oprah had a chat about the "Eat" section of the book. Lesley is fresh from reading Dietgirl's book and knows that abstinence is not the answer, so I thought this might be of interest for her. Elizabeth Gilbert talked about eating food, appreciating it - for what it is - and savouring every moment and mouthful. Oprah was, of course, incredulous that anyone could live and eat in Italy, with abandon, without putting on loads of weight. (Because, let's face it, if you have little or no control over certain foods, pasta is likely to be one of them and something you would struggle to eat in moderation. I speak from experience!) And the author replied it was about honouring yourself and food; eating a plate of pasta is joyful, eating six bags of "potato chips" on the sofa is not. That struck a chord. It struck a massive chord.

What abstinence has given me, this time round, is a sense of genuine hunger. Real, gurgling tummy, physical hunger. Second, it has made me realise how little of the food that I ate was savoured and/or enjoyed. When food is in the mix, I zone out. I remember a meal from Route to Management that was so pleasurable - cottage cheese and salad - because I was aware of EVERYTHING - taste, texture, etc. I sat down to eat the meal and was focused on it. I'll be honest, that behaviour stopped a long time short of the end of Route to Management.

Last night one of my class members and I had a chat about abstinence. She wanted to ensure I wasn't doing abstinence to counteract the weight gain (and thus get into a destructive cycle). Absolutely not, I reassured her. "You're doing it for the control, aren't you?", she said. And she was spot on. In a very short space of time, I was out of control with food. Not in the scary way of before but certainly eating too much, not noticing it, not paying attention to what I was eating, not enjoying it and knowing that I was putting on weight but not seeming to care. Or, more appropriately, not being able to get a grip.

So, I already know that abstinence is not the answer in the long term either BUT for short bursts, it's working for me. The challenge will be to get it right (food wise) in a way that works for me. And that's where short-term thinking is NOT the answer. It's something that Tiger Girl and I have been corresponding about and I'll share some of our thoughts in the next post.

Have a great day, everyone, and whether you are abstaining, half abstaining, eating well or whatever, make sure you do what's right for you. And, as my LLC likes to remind us, ask yourself "What's the most loving and kind thing I can do for myself? Right now?".

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Comments

[Lesley]

I think you're right about abstinenece - whereas I'm tempted to do it just to get some weight off quickly, you seem to have other motivations. I'm STILL tempted to do it and it's definitely not off my agenda if I can't get back in control over the next few weeks but am giving this control business a shot.

Had pasta last night and feel terribly fat today so think that is off the menu for a LONG time!

It's really hard but I appreciate your help and it is at least stopping the rot even if I'm not shrinking at the moment. Need to post a longer post myself to get some of the thoughts churning round my head out.

I'm really glad abstinence is working for you at the moment and if it helps then that is a GOOD thing.

(((((((big hug))))))))

Lesley x

[dietgirl]

oh Missus... i bought EPL and stalled after the Italy! I started reading India and I was missing all the food... how sad am i? :P I will give it another go.

[Tiger Girl]

I can't believe we've not discussed 'EPL'. I bought it months before LL popped into my world, and after I read it I immediately sent it to a friend and then bought myself another copy just in case I never saw my original again! I LOVED this book. It's definitley the right time to pick it up again. At the time of first reading, I wasn't focused on the food bit I was more interested in the overall adventure. Now I think I would have a considerably different take on the food bit!!
I can't recommend it enough :)
xxx