I had a friend tell me the other day that I invest way too much time, thought, and activity in food - planning, shopping, cooking, storing (I'm always in Home Goods looking for the perfect containers!), etc. I had to think about it and she was right. Now that I have stopped teaching so many hours a week, it really has become my primary "outside" activity and hobby - but really it always was. I did have to stop watching cooking shows and reading cookbooks, though, because those activities alone would trigger a need to eat even if I was not hungry (as did TV commercials for food - I had to develop the habit of changing the channel during a food commercial).
However, when I really thought about what she said I had to realize that being a "slave" to that "hobby" has, in effect, given me freedom. When I make out my menu plans for the week, make my shopping list, spend 1-2 hours on a Saturday afternoon grocery shopping, and HOURS cooking on Sunday, what I have actually bought is the freedom to not have to "worry" about food for the rest of the week. I know I have healthy and happy meals planned throughout the week, and I do not have to come home at the end of the day and THEN start to prepare and cook... which always lands up being no good. Because, instead of preparing and cooking (even if I have already decided what I want and have what I need in the kitchen) I eat my way through the kitchen - regardless of good intentions.
I have decided that I owe no apologies for the way I approach my food activities. It works for me. It results in healthy eating and sensible shopping (I can't begin to tell you how my grocery bill can be close to double on the weeks I do not do my Saturday/Sunday food activities). I have to thank my WW leader for pointing that out to me last Saturday when I shared with the group what my friend said to me. A favorite WW saying is: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." It is SO true.
I'm having a hungry day today. Thank goodness for home-made vegetable soup in the fridge, and a draw full of washed and ready salad ingredients, and a container of grilled chicken! Make fun of me if you will, but it's all there... all ready... and I don't have to give dinner a second thought!
Miriam
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMiriam, you are doing what works for you! I am truly impressed that you often plan out your meals for the entire week - I've never been so organized! It may be a moot point now since I don't go to work. Actually, what I'm finding out is as a retiree, I need to be more self-disciplined - too easy to sit back and become a couch potato. I am working at setting up my daily routine - what time I eat, sleep and exercise. If I don't do it myself, who will?! I don't have a daily routine of getting up and going to work anymore, so keeping up an active life is totally up to me!
ReplyDeleteLike you, Miriam, I love homemade soup - especially when it's filling enough to make an entire meal! I've been eating my husbands soup the past 2.5 days and have not tired of it. His is a ham and bean , but it's also chock-full of veggies, and it is truly delicious, and oh so filling! : )
I once had someone tell me I was obsessed. I replied "being obsessed with my health isn't a bad thing is it?" That shut her up in a hurry.
ReplyDelete