evening eating – my results

Two days ago I set a very short-term goal:

Goal #5: In two days (on November 25) I would like to be able to say that I have been more mindful about my evening eating, deciding beforehand what snack I will eat and finding other ways to occupy myself.

This is the notebook page where I kept a record of how I approached this goal:

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You will notice the stickers I’ve added to the page.  Perhaps this is childish, but I respond very well to rewards, even something as simple as a sticker.  Stickers are generally inexpensive and they decorate my otherwise boring spiral notebook.

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This may seem a lot of work for two evenings of being in control of my after-supper eating.  But I hope to learn from this and continue to work on this bad habit of excessive eating during the evening hours.

From now on, I am going to plan my snack, based on the food groups I have remaining at the end of the day.  Usually these are fruit, vegetable and milk food groups.  By choosing to eat from one or two of these groups, I put myself in control and I round out the nutrients I need.

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I am also going to keep a book and my knitting nearby so when I feel the urge to eat, I will divert my attention with another enjoyable activity.

Alexandra reading, not eating

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In my wanderings around the Internet, I found an excellent discussion about eating mindfully in the evening hours at http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=407

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Stay tuned.  Tomorrow I will be choosing a new short-term goal.

Best always, Alexandra