"Somebody's boring me, I think it's me"
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
My mom used to tell me that all the time growing up. She got it from one of those daily calendars with quotes on it. In fact, she liked it so much she had it framed and put it outside of my room. The point is that it's up to us to keep our attention and focus. If you're bored, look inside.
This is especially important because of a major motivation killer, food boredom. We've all had it at some point or another, where we get into a rut and eat the same thing every day, week and month. One low point for me came before my marriage. I was getting lazy with preparing food and just ate ham sandwiches all the time. In one week I had gone through three whole loaves of sandwich bread. That's 36 sandwiches, for those that are counting. Keep in mind I was still sticking to Weight Watchers, but I certainly wasn't having fun doing it.
Like many other types of boredom, the solution is simple. Get out more. We live in an amazing time in civilization, the era of the "megamart". We can step into a store and be instantly transported around the world to sample thousands of cuisines. Often times, the results are healthy. Surprisingly more often, the unhealthy items coincide with a "low-fat" or "light" alternative. The "low carb" hurricane has blown through and left plenty of light foodstuffs strewn over the shopping landscape.
Instead of simply shuttling through the supermarket, explore the shelves like you would at a bookstore or library. Go down new aisles. Find the smaller boxes and jars and cans with weird labels. Sometimes I'll go to a supermarket and spend 2 hours strolling around (of course, I am a little insane too). Imagine if you could find one new meal a week. In a year, you'd have over 50 new alternatives for dinner, something that even Applebees can't match.
Just be sure to read the labels. The FDA has really helped informed consumers by mandating this information. Almost everything has calories, fat, sodium and fiber on it, and points values and other stats can be quickly calculated on the spot.
This is especially important because of a major motivation killer, food boredom. We've all had it at some point or another, where we get into a rut and eat the same thing every day, week and month. One low point for me came before my marriage. I was getting lazy with preparing food and just ate ham sandwiches all the time. In one week I had gone through three whole loaves of sandwich bread. That's 36 sandwiches, for those that are counting. Keep in mind I was still sticking to Weight Watchers, but I certainly wasn't having fun doing it.
Like many other types of boredom, the solution is simple. Get out more. We live in an amazing time in civilization, the era of the "megamart". We can step into a store and be instantly transported around the world to sample thousands of cuisines. Often times, the results are healthy. Surprisingly more often, the unhealthy items coincide with a "low-fat" or "light" alternative. The "low carb" hurricane has blown through and left plenty of light foodstuffs strewn over the shopping landscape.
Instead of simply shuttling through the supermarket, explore the shelves like you would at a bookstore or library. Go down new aisles. Find the smaller boxes and jars and cans with weird labels. Sometimes I'll go to a supermarket and spend 2 hours strolling around (of course, I am a little insane too). Imagine if you could find one new meal a week. In a year, you'd have over 50 new alternatives for dinner, something that even Applebees can't match.
Just be sure to read the labels. The FDA has really helped informed consumers by mandating this information. Almost everything has calories, fat, sodium and fiber on it, and points values and other stats can be quickly calculated on the spot.
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1 Comments:
The quote is by Dylan Thomas, a famous Welsh poet.
9/07/2006 4:20 PM
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