Well, here I am again in lovely old England, not missing the sun and the sea and stuff at all (pah!). Had a fab holiday, lots of lazing by the pool, eating too much cheese and drinking Sangre de Torro (the wine, not ACTUAL bull's blood!). That's me and The Hubby by the way, on the esplanade in Torrevieja. I have to admit to sneaking on the scales upon my return (not immediately, that would be a bit disturbing!!) and I had put on about 3lbs. Not bad for 2 weeks of eating ice cream and crisps and drinking cafe bonbons (espresso with sweetened condensed milk, for goodness sake!), and not moving very much! I used my journal a bit on the first day, as I had a couple of intuitive eating-related thoughts. Here they are, for what they're worth......Sunday August 12th.
Holidays have food-habits too. The worst of mine is eating for the sake of it. I intend to try and avoid this as much as possible. Not easy. The Hubby had a bag of salted mixed nuts yesterday. I did have some, but I paid attention to eating them, and I THINK I had less than I might otherwise have done.
Making the coffee this morning I wished I had cream in it. Three years ago we went to Fuerteventura, and it was impossible to get fresh milk where we stayed, so we took to having long-life cream in our coffee. That can hardly be an ingrained habit! Just something I fancy. But I LIKE black coffee, and that's a GOOD thing. Cream should be an occasional treat.
So, I started the day with black coffee. I'll wait till I'm hungry for my breakfast, then perhaps I'll be able to decide if I want scrambled egg and smoked salmon or fruit and yoghurt. Can't decide right now.
I HAVE decided however, that I am not going to worry about food on this holiday. And yesterday I also decided that I'm not going to worry about meals and mealtimes either. I will eat when I am hungry and (try) not (to) eat when I'm not. If the others want me to cook them a meal then I will, but I will tell them they must ask. Yesterday (we had an odd, jumbled day because of flying) we had our lunch (Hubby and I) at about half 3. Mine was lovely, goats cheese and another sort, salad, crisps, olives and smoked salmon. I wanted to eat it ALL, but became aware that my stomach was full and getting uncomfortable. So I, sadly, left some. I told myself there was plenty more and I could have some more later. That was OK. Then about half 7 I was hungry again, and I felt I wanted hazelnut ice cream (but would have settled for a different flavour as long as it was quality stuff). I definitely DIDN'T want a cheap ice cream in a wrapper. But I felt quite relaxed about it, and knew I probably wouldn't get any till today. In the end I had (most of) a packet of plain crisps instead. I don't really want ice cream now!
Later.... I had half a peach, half a banana and half a plain yoghurt for my breakfast, then I waited, and was still hungry so had 2 corncakes with peanut butter. Actually I STILL feel hungry, but I don't think I really am. I'm going to have a shower and wash my hair and go to the supermercado for some showergel and some brandy. It's hard not to read the paper while I eat alone (everyone else is still asleep!). I've always read something. I have to keep reminding myself not to.
So how did I do? I think I did better than I usually do on holiday. I didn't have ice cream every day. I drank less than I usually do on holiday - I never bought that brandy, couldn't be bothered to carry the big heavy bottle back from the shop!. I tuned in a bit, and I was more relaxed about eating. I ate when I was hungry (I also ate when I wasn't, on occasion, but what I mean is I wasn't thinking, it's lunch time, I HAVE to have lunch). It's difficult when you are out of synch with everyone else - I was getting up much earlier than my Hubby or The Boy and his friend, so when they were having their breakfast I was starting to think about my lunch. Which often meant I needed 'tea' to keep me going till they were ready for dinner, even though I'd already had breakfast and lunch. But mostly I enjoyed myself and didn't worry about it, which is great, and meant I enjoyed my holiday!
