Can I have your attention please!

5^th November 2011

The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it. Richard Bach

6am and I’ve been in bed for almost 12 hours!  I didn’t sleep for all of them but still have a damn good night, would have been better if it wasn’t for the noise of the fireworks waking me and Alfie up, having said that I’m just relieved they don’t scare him.  I used to love fireworks until I had pets, I still do enjoy watching them I just don’t feel the banging noises are necessary, they make it sound like we’re in a war zone.  I can’t believe I went to bed just after 6pm ;D I turned to mom and said ‘I’m tired’, she replied ‘me too’ , then we both said, “shall we go to bed”.  These days with Sky+ you don’t have to stay up to watch something plus it meant I didn’t have any tea which was a bonus after Cosmo lunch.

Speaking of which I wasn’t too bad, I did go up 3 times but only had 2 ½ plates and a lot of that was veggies, I love their Broccoli and mushrooms, need to learn to cook that kind of Chinese food because I’d eat much more veggie food.  I resisted pudding which never appeals to me in there it’s just cake which you can get much better from elsewhere and if I’m going to waste ProPoints on cake then it’s going to be the best cake ever!

 So how much was my lunch in ProPoints values; (all approximate values of course)

Spring roll (mini) x 2 8pp

Chicken thing on stick 2pp

Beef in black bean sauce (tbsp) 3pp

Lemon chicken (tbsp) 3pp

Sweet & sour chicken (tbsp) 3pp

Egg fried rice (2 tbsp) 5pp

Noodles (spoonful) 4pp

Mushrooms & brocolli 4pp

Chips (had about 5) 5pp

2 small pancakes filled with cucumber and spring onions (3pp)

Still quite high rolling in at 40pp and I really didn’t go OTT but I did leave full to the brim, I had 2 plates and waited a good 20 minutes before going up for that last bit, I fancied the pancakes but not the crispy pork so just stuffed them with cucumber and spring onions.  I was totally full when I left the restaurant and didn’t eat again for the rest of the day.

We did have a good girly giggle whilst there though, I do love my Friday lunch out with the girls.  A couple sat on the table next to us with a little girl, it was fascinating watching her eat her lunch, all touchy feely with it, pulling faces at the same time, very sweet, very funny and very unbothered about how she looked eating her dinner and making a mess everywhere.  We can all learn from the little girl playing with her green jelly and sucking her noodles one at a time!

Unfortunately things change and we grow up and become too self aware, as I was walking in I bumped into a member who’s first words were “You haven’t seen me” she then repeated it, and went and sat down, apparently we don’t say hello to each other anymore ;D Immediately she felt guilty and she shouldn’t we are allowed to go out to eat and we don’t have to justify our choices, as long as we’re happy then that’s all that matters. 

I am a people watcher and they had sat us right up the far corner so I was looking out over all the tables and one lady in particular caught my eye, she ate an entire plate full of food and never looked at it once, she just stared vacantly at the walls all the time she was eating ;( at first I thought it was because she was on her own but even when the rest of the table sat down she just sat staring into space eating.  She wasn’t tasting that food at all and she wasn’t being mindful of it either, such a shame to be that distracted from life, she looked very unhappy.

It’s so important to focus on your food (and everything else that’s going on in your life – be in the moment).  People eat significantly more when they are distracted at mealtimes and therefore not paying attention to their food.  In one experiment the amount of attention that cinema goers paid to a film was related to how much popcorn they consumed.  Those who were more absorbed by the movie ate significantly larger amounts.  In another experiment, people who listened to a detective story during their lunch break ate 15% more food than those who sat in silence.  Distractions while eating, such as watching tv, reading or even chatting with others encourage people to consume more!

So today pay attention to everything you eat, give it your complete 100% focus and taste it, enjoy it and don’t feel guilty about it either. Xx

xx