This is Day 12 of the 14-Day Healthy Living Challenge held in Jan 2015 where we work on improving our diet and fitness for 14 days. The challenge is now over but you can do the tasks in your own time. Visit the overview page for all the challenge tasks.
Hi everyone!! :D It’s now Day 11 of our 14-Day Healthy Living Challenge. Only three days left before our challenge ends! Let’s go!
Challenge Tasks to Date
- Announcement and signup page: Join 14-Day Healthy Living Challenge!
- Day 0: Create Your 14-Day Healthy Living Plan | Comments
- Day 1: Drink 8 Glasses of Water | Comments
- Day 2: Eat 5 Servings of Fruits & Vegetables | Comments
- Day 3: Create Your Calorie List | Comments
- Day 4: Calculate Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure | Comments
- Day 5: Create Your Ideal Meal Plan | Comments
- Day 6: Follow Your Ideal Meal Plan! | Comments
- Day 7: Review & Set Your Plan for Week 2! | Comments
- Day 8: Get a Great Workout! | Comments
- Day 9: Identify Your Healthy Living Pitfalls | Comments
- Day 10: Meditate | Comments
- Day 11: Identify Your Food Struggles | Comments
My Day 11 in Pictures
Here’s a recap of my Day 11 in pictures:
First meal, same combi as my dinners on Day 4 and 6): QQ Rice and freshly squeezed orange juice!
Mid-day snack: Banana and grapes
Supper: Same as yesterday — Century egg porridge and chee cheong fun
So yesterday (Day 11) was kinda funny — you may have noticed that I only have three food pictures above. That’s because I ended crashing out! I had barely slept the past 36 hours (three hours at most) because I was busy working (preparing for the Passive Income course, writing the challenge posts, posting comments, editing a new Ask Celes video, editing my old articles) and we had house visitors in the day. So while I had planned to exercise and have a salad before posting Day 12’s post and call it a night, I fell into a deep sleep after crawling into bed for a short rest!
My priority for next month, after the challenge ends, is to normalize my sleeping hours (and once this is done, to meditate more regularly). My focus when the year started with 14HLC is to upgrade my diet and also incorporate exercise, and now that these have been kicked into gear and are going well, I’m excited to work on other parts of my lifestyle.
So yesterday (Day 11) I had meant to do a workout video with Ken like I shared in my Day 10 post. But then he was busy the whole day (literally, from morning to almost midnight) so we couldn’t even do it together. Then I realized this would often happen to our couple workout sessions — like we used to jog together, but then he got a knee injury (which is still there) since three months ago and ever since then we couldn’t jog together, and so this then made me stall on my jogging sessions. Until 14HLC started which was when I kicked back into jogging gear.
It’s not his fault of course and for me I realized I need to make my workout sessions more independent, so that they fit my schedule better and don’t get disrupted. So for now, I’ll just stick to my two-to-three-times-a-week jogging routine for predictability and regularity in my routine. It can be difficult to introduce too many variables into a routine activity (in this case, the variable is his ability and availability to exercise) and I found that when it comes to a routine activity like diet and exercising, an important ingredient for success is to make it as idiot-proof, simple, and easy to execute as possible. So in my case, simply having a fixed time slot every other day where I just put on my jogging gear, plug in my earphones, head down and jog and come back 30–40 minutes later.
Reviewing my 14HLC goals, they are
- Exercise at least three times a week – Exercise session got thwarted, but not to fret as I’ll instead jog later today. Then my third exercise for the week will be at the end of the week on Day 14, yeah!
- Cut out deep fried / oily food from my diet – Check!
- Eat salads more regularly, ideally once a day if I can – I think this is the only day in the challenge so far where I didn’t have a salad! And it was because I crashed out. I’ll be having a salad later today (2012)!
Check out other participants’ amazing food logs and progress updates in Day 11’s comments section!
With that, let’s move to Day 12’s task, which is…
Day 12: Practice Conscious Eating
How do you usually eat your food? Are you aware and present whenever you’re eating, with every single bite you take? Or do you usually chomp down your food, fill your mind with thoughts about work and other stuff in between bites, or even eat while doing (and only while) other activities?
Unfortunately, most people in the modern society today do not eat consciously. Conscious eating means to eat with full attention and awareness of your food, to be cognizant of what you’re putting in your body, and to appreciate and savor your food as you’re eating it. Most people don’t; they take big bites, shove their food down the throat, and think about all kinds of things while they’re eating. Some stuff their meals in the middle of work/TV; so they literally chomp down their food while working away on their laptop, while watching the big colors and words flash on their TV screen, while reading the newspaper on their dining table, while fiddling around with their smartphone. And then there is a large chunk of the society who mix eating with socialization: they only eat when there’s someone with them; they eat while talking; they talk while eating; and while eating they don’t concentrate or stay cognizant of their food, but rather are busy thinking of the next conversational topic and what to respond.
The very bad thing about unconscious eating is that (as I mentioned in How to Stop Emotional Eating, A Crucial Guide, Part 2: Rebuilding a Healthy Relationship with Food) we don’t know we are full until we have eaten way more than we should. When we’re eat unconsciously, “it makes us numb to the sensations in our stomach, which then results in erratic eating habits thereafter, because we confuse emotional eating triggers with hunger cues.”
When you eat consciously, it helps you to (a) be more in tune with your hunger cues, so you don’t overeat, and (b) be more conscious of the role of eating / food in your life, which supports you in building a healthy relationship with food. This is why conscious eating is also my fourth tip to rebuild a healthy relationship with food.
Today, your task is to eat consciously! Here are my tips (from How to Stop Emotional Eating, A Crucial Guide, Part 2: Rebuilding a Healthy Relationship with Food):
- Don’t mix eating with other activities. Before you eat, put everything aside, including your laptop and mobile phone. Concentrate on eating and eating only.
- Know what you’re eating. Examine the ingredients. Look at the nutritional content. Educate yourself on what you’re feeding your body.
- Before you eat, feel the sensation (of hunger) in your stomach.
- Examine the food you are about to eat. Look at the colors. Look at the composition of ingredients. Smell it if you desire.
- Be grateful for this food that you’re about to eat. Think about all the work that went into the creation of this food — the harvesting, the procurement, the delivery, the preparation, the cooking (if the meal was cooked), etc. Be thankful for each and every person who was involved in the creation of this food.
- Now as you eat, do so one bite at a time. With each bite, chew very slowly and deliberately. Relish the taste of food in your mouth. Feel the texture.
- At the same time, be aware of how your stomach feels. Feel the sensation of hunger fade away slowly with each bite. Feel your stomach being filled up as you eat.
- Then, stop when you feel halfway full or you have consumed enough calories for the meal.
Even if you’re eating with friend(s) today, you can still eat consciously. Don’t chew and talk at the same time. Every time you take a bite, focus your attention on your food, and concentrate on chewing, savoring the taste, and digesting the food. When you are done with the bite, put your attention back to your friend(s). Listen to what he/she has to say. Say what you want to say. Do that in turns and you’ll be fine.
Next, Follow Your Plan for Day 12 (Take Pictures Too!)
What tasks have you set for Day 12 of your 14-Day Healthy Living Plan? Do them today!
Take pictures of your healthy meals — breakfast, lunch, dinner, and mid-day snacks if any — and share them in the comments section. :D After all, a picture tells a thousand words, and when you share photos of your healthy meals, it inspires others to eat healthily and gives them ideas on what healthy food they can have too!
Post your initial comment sharing your results for today’s challenge task, then add on throughout the day as you have your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and/or if you’re doing any workouts. Attach photos of your meals by clicking the image icon on the bottom left of every comment box. As you add on to your comment thread, be sure to click on the reply button directly below your original comment so that you reply to your own thread (as opposed to starting a new thread).
Share Your Results (and Photos!)
Share in the comments section!
- Your experience eating consciously today
- Your progress with your healthy living plan today
- Pictures of your meals
- Pictures of your workout (if any)
Do check out the other participants’ comments too and share a word of encouragement or two. We’re all in this together, so let’s support each other as a group! :)
Stay tuned for Day 13’s task tomorrow! :D Just two days left everyone!!
(Image: Women running, Apricot)
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HI Celes!! Great post on conscious eating. One experiment that has really helped me in this is to atleast eat some part of my meal with my eyes closed! The sensations of chewing , the juicy flavors, the texture of all the varied ingredients ( juicy fruits, crunchy nuts and leafy salads) are completely heightened and I was blown away with the experience. Since our eyes are shut, we donot get distracted with sights, colors, lights and everything else that our eys take in ( which we normally take for granted) . I definitely felt the real joy of eating and also felt fuller earlier ( coz all other times I wasnt even paying attention to my stomach signals)I do it on weekends if I eat alone and one should be careful not to spill anything LOL. But Iv recommended this to everyone Iv met and most ppl do feel the sudden difference. It is definitely a sure shot way of conscious eating, even if its only for 5 mins.
I’m definitely guilty of this. Unless I am having a meal with somebody, if I am eating on my own, chances are I’ll use the time to process some thoughts I was having, or surfing internet through my phone to learn some new information.
Time just seems never enough, to the point I tend to not eat consciously and focus on every bite of the food I eat. Noted on this and will make it a point to not think so much during meals or use communication devices.
1. My experience eating consciously today
I have this bad habit of having my meals in front of computer while browsing the web. So today when I was practising conscious eating without distractions I noticed impulses / thoughts that I need to search the web for xy stuff that is not important at all. So I had to make an effort to focus only on eating because my thoughts were flying around.
Aha! That could be my new healty living goal – eating without distractions!
2. My progress with my healthy living plan today
– drank 7,5 glasses of water
– ate 4 servings of F&V
– did not go for a walk: I am not good at this taking a walk goal. I am not taking it so seriously as the other goals for this 14 day health challenge. I will work on that in task for day 13.
I have been trying to stick to the challenge in the second week too, just couldn’t find the time to post a comment!
Thanks to the challenge, I have made some realisations about my healthy habits. This is great and unexpected because I thought I was quite aware and on top of things. Just goes to confirm there is always room for improvement :)
Some of these realisations:
– I am going to stick to the meditations, they are one of my favourite parts of the day!
– I need to plan my fluid intake on weekends better but weekdays are fine.
– The evening exercise takes my mind away from work troubles, which is something I really appreciate as then I can enjoy the rest of the evening much better!
– It’s easy (for me) to create a routine which incorporates the 5-a-day fruit and vegetable guideline (2 apples as snacks; 2 vegetables of my choice with my lunch sandwich; and a cup of salad or of frozen vegetables in/with my dinner).
– And finally, my boyfriend really interferes with my goal of going to sleep before midnight!! ;)
Day 12 Practice Conscious Eating
This is something that I have practiced for some time now.. But it was not always like that. Not by a long shot! Long ago, I used to binge on food, which became fast and mindless eating, usually in front of a television or while driving or parked in a car. I could not even imagine just eating the food without ‘watching’/looking at something or people. I needed distractions to take me away from what I was doing. Distractions so I wouldn’t have to be in touch with my growing body. Or connect what I was doing to myself, mindlessly, that was making my body get bigger. Junk food had me hooked and controlled me.
Thankfully, it has been a long time since I have binged or had mindless eating. It was a long road that I have traveled from that sad place. For many years now, I have watched no TV, and focus in on my meals and snacks, one bite at a time. I still have times where I face emotional eating, and most times I can sort that out and not take it out on my body. I still struggle with portion control as well as eating too many carbs or the wrong kind of carbs. Which means I struggle with my weight, which means i have limited mobility, which means I must take responsibility with myself, be accountable to myself, which means I need to keep on with this HLC after these 14 days. Keep on until I am truly living healthy and that means each day of my life I need to practice all we have been learning and doing here in this most-needed challenge!
Consciously eating is so important for me. Since i used to disconnect from my body so much when I was bingeing, I had lost touch with my body. Bingeing made it possible for me to go into a stupor, a fog, a numbing. I was food-focused- mostly junk food, and after a short while, I didn’t even hardly notice the food or the taste. I became a robot that kept eating mindlessly. And my body was being filled up, and then I felt sleepy or sick, but it was like I wasn’t even in my body, that my conscious awareness was somewhere else and then there was my body, feeling drugged and lost, waiting for the appetite to kick in again for more food. That is a hopeless state, diametrically opposed to Day 12’s practice of conscious eating. So with my history, I have come a long way, and yet I am facing the challenge of my life every day, and practicing conscious eating is a crucial part of my living healthy.
Practicing conscious eating is a way I can nurture myself. I have a great respect for our beautiful and amazing Mother Earth and all that she produces, as well as all who assist in that production to make it possible to bring the food to the store or roadside stands, and to the table. I love to enjoy the fruits and veggies and herbs that come from our farm, and we love the land that it comes from. Trees are awesome, and trees that produce fruit are a celebration. I could go on and on about this. I am truly grateful for each bite. And I pray for being able to eat WISELY, so I may be at my best.
I am grateful for good, nutritious food, and the privilege of having such wide food choices. I am one who can eat the same basic thing repeatedly, as long as I sometimes use herbs and spices to change it up or vary one thing, like a different veggie. I also appreciate the unseasoned taste of food too, but i do use seasonings for variety. i am aware of each herb, the shape and texture of the plant, or leaf, and the burst of flavor cilantro, for example, or basil, or mint gives a salad. The endless varieties and flavors of fruits and veggies is splendid. Soups with a blend of flavors and seasonings is so warming and soothing. I find that the more conscious I become with eating, the more I lean toward less fish and animal protein. I do have a tougher time dropping excess weight when I replace meat and poultry with legumes, so that is a big consideration.
Eating each bite of food at mealtime is an opportunity for me to practice focused awareness and endless gratitude. I am looking at mindful eating as not just a time to tune into each bite and how I am feeling, but it is also a celebration honoring myself, the Earth, and all who have brought this food for me to nourish my body with so I can, with WISE choices, live my best life.
Every time I drink water, every sip, is a chance for me to say thanks for this wonderful clear liquid that gives me so much. Water is life. I place my hands around each bottle or glass of water and ‘place’ in the water my best thoughts, and when I drink the water, I am drinking and putting in my body those best thoughts like good health, confidence, happiness, empowerment, etc.
Salud!
Cheers!
Bon appetit!
Buen Provecho!
Muchas Gracias!
Hi Swann!! (Unrelated to your post, but have you considered registering for an account at Disqus (the commenting system used on PE)? I pointed this out to fufu in a different comment, but basically when you get an account with Disqus (it’s free), it strings together all the comments you’ve ever made under the email you supply (I assume in this case it’ll be your cooper gmail email), including comments under Bette and Swann, as well as give you options to send self-notifications when others reply to your comments. You can also add your custom avatar. Just takes a few short minutes. Disqus is used in other blogs too so you can use your account in any other blog that uses this commenting system!)
Sounds good Celes. I tried to register right from the start of HLC, and just now clicked the ‘D’ in the blue circle by ‘Name’and am having no luck. Says I am already signed in with that email address is already in use/’try logging in,’ all of which I did, repeatedly.and check my info. It just jumps back and forth between ‘create a new account’.and ‘invalid’ info.. I put my username as Swann and created a new password…..but it says ‘invalid’…..confusing for such a simple thing! And the email would be the cooper yahoo one. Of course I would rather ‘Swann’ appear rather than ‘Guest vote’ when I comment on others’ posts! The only way I could post was to click ‘I’d rather post as guest’ so I went with that.
Hi Swann! Maybe you already created an account (and hence it saying that the address is in use) — if so, perhaps you can try their password retrieval option? Then it’ll send the password to your email I believe. You would want to sign up with your cooper/yahoo email because that’s the only way all past comments under this email will become consolidated.
(After you get your account, there is an option in the settings where you can merge all past non-registered comments posted under cooper/yahoo in your registered account. Click that and you’re set!)
The last few tasks have been a bit challenging for me which is why I haven’t been posting much. I tried my best to balance taking a bite and writing but it might be almost impossible for me because when I eat I use it as an opportunity to be productive, such as note things down, chat, or simply read articles.
But if there’s one thing I do follow is to not chew and talk with my mouth at the same time. In Puerto Rico (and I bet in most of the world too) that’s super rude to others in the table and personally I hate when people try to mount a conversation with me while I’m eating. I just make hand motions to wait till I swallow to respond. And my breakfast! Cereal with lota of fiber and pottasium and added raisins, nuts and milk :)
Hi fufu! That’s interesting that you shared about Puerto Rico’s culture. It’s also the same thing in traditional Chinese culture while chewing is considered unruly and unsightly (youngsters are also not expected to talk during a meal but the adults, though this isn’t really the case today), though the funny thing is that dining together is often seen as a perfect socialization activity, especially for families. Many Chinese TV shows often depict conversation and socialization happening over a family meal.
That’s the same thing they depict in tv over here haha (Since we see the channels from USA). I really love talking to people from other countries, especially in the area where you live. :) I think the only few passion I have left for the kitchen lies on Asian cooking. I would love to cook at least once or twice a week plates from China, Singapore, Japan, Korea. (That’s why if you noticed when asked if to eat out I tend to choose Chinese food.)
I agree about paying attention to what you eat and not doing other things, such as working or watching television. But what do you think about conversation during the meal?
Hey Vicki! I mentioned about this inside the task post, under the 8 tips.
In the eight tips, it only said to focus on food and nothing else. However in the beginning of the task post, you did talk about people who eat while talking and talk while eating.
Not having any conversation or interaction with the people you are eating with seems rude and and uncomfortable, and it is difficult to do when sitting with your spouse or partner or friends at mealtime. In your Day 13 post, you wrote this, “In between bites I’m okay to chat, but when I’m eating and chewing/biting, I focus on my food, not on other things.” That is what I was thinking about when I asked what about conversation — I think it is uncomfortable to be totally silent during meal time and I’m pleased that you aren’t rigid about it!
Hi Vicki! I realized there’s room for double meaning — by ‘under” the 8 tips, I mean literally below the 8 tips and not inside the 8 tips list. You can see a paragraph that I dedicated regarding conversations/eating in the post above (Day 12), below the list of 8 tips. Since socialization is a common thing with eating I think in all cultures, I thought it was important to address by way of that paragraph too.
Wow this is challenging! I think I’m not the only one who starts a meal with the intent of eating mindfully, but soon after finds herself thinking about god knows what, and eating on auto-pilot. I had to remind myself several times throughout my meals today to focus on the food and stop my mind from wandering.
Mindfulness, in anything, is a practice, indeed. You can’t get the hang of it really quickly. :)
I’m still exercising, still drinking lots of water, sleeping well, trying to get more fruits and veggies in my diet.
It definitely is Lina! I also feel that for every observation we make about food, it’s something we take away with us permanently. (As opposed to it being something we have to keep watching out for.) So in that sense, every practice we make in conscious eating makes us more conscious about food, as opposed to having to put in a constant amount of effort to maintain the same consciousness, if it makes sense. (This is assuming there is no external pressure that pushes down our consciousness, which is usually what happens in situations of EE.)
And number 9 :) Always drink a big glass of water at least half an hour before eating. It will help the food digest better.
I’m pretty sure I follow most of these. But sometimes eat at random times which isn’t good.
Sorry for the lack of photos lately. I’ve been forgetting to takes photos when I eat!
Hey Glenn, no problem! On the water, it depends. Another reader posted in Day 1’s task about how drinking water actually causes problems for people with GERD/acid reflux because it dilutes their stomach acid and prevents them from digesting food easier (I also included this in Day 1’s task writeup). So just want to call out that drinking water 30 minutes or right before a meal depends on the individual, but that yes drinking water is indeed important (and hence Day 1’s task). I personally drink water as I have a meal and after having a meal.
On a separate note, I have heard before that eating fruit *before* a meal is more beneficial than during or after a meal!
First meal of the day: QQ Rice and grapes! The ingredients are exactly the same as yesterday (I bought two at one shot when I was at the shop yesterday): wheatgerm rice with pickled vegetables, mushoom, vegetable floss, braised peanuts, and vegetarian duck.
Dinner Part 1: Mushroom soup, wheat bread, and banana. While practicing the conscious eating task today, I noticed that the banana is actually sparkly! I don’t know if it’s the reflection of the light on the fiber or what, but it was a really sparkly banana! I’ve taken a picture of it closeup but the camera wasn’t able to capture the details.
And went jogging just now before dinner, yes!!! Nicely showered and ready to work now!
And absolutely no link to the challenge at all, a picture of my cat, sleeping behind my monitor <3
Dinner part 2: Quinoa and brown rice salad with pumpkin and capsicum of all colors, and mushroom soup. Very yummy!!
Dinner: Tea with veggie patty. While practicing conscious eating, I noticed for the first time how chewy the bread is! And how grainy it is as well. As well as the vibrant colors. Funny how details can just slip past you when you’re not cognizant of something. (And this can apply to anything in life.) I think where our attention goes, our energy flows, and it’s important for our attention to be focused on the right things (and this applies to everything else in life).
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