A recent trip to Australia's island state of Tasmania, where I did nothing but eat and drink and completely ignore any satiety signals, has prompted my return to mindfulness, which I seemed to have forgotten about! Worryingly, I must have put on about half a stone (feels like it, anyway) because I was eating probably double than I'd normally eat at home.
I was in Tasmania with a group of people on a travel agent 'fam' trip, and everyone was eating large amounts of food, as we were wined and dined extravagantly on this trip (am I destined to a life of lard if I continue on this route?), so I just joined in.
Does this mean I really haven't conquered intuitive eating yet? Why didn't I pay attention to whether I was full or not, and resist greed? I know, I know - this learning is all part of the curiosity, the experiment, and the discovery - but I'm going for a bridesmaid dress fitting in just over a week!
It's difficult when everyone you are eating with goes for the full 3 courses, yet you know that for you, a starter is often enough (especially if breakfast and lunch were rather generous, too). Not forgetting the wine and cheese to finish, of course.
So, here I am regretting my over-indulgence, but trying not to be too hard on myself. I think that while in Tasmania - virtually the other side of the world - I was definitely thinking "I'm not going to get this opportunity again!". But to be honest, the food I ate (whilst incredibly good and tasty), I could get anywhere in the world in a fine dining restaurant (except the Tasmanian wines!). So that was faulty thinking on my part - an excuse to let go of the mindfulness. But why?
It seems there is still much to discover on this road to a liberated approach.
I'm Andrea, and am obsessed with creating fabulous food. After I managed to ditch dieting, the reason Chocolate and Beyond was born, it seemed natural to evolve my site into a foodie blog. More so since I also ditched animal produce to be vegan. Now, I love showing how inventive cruelty-free cooking can be. And sometimes I like to rant, too. I wouldn't be myself otherwise :) x 
Nice to have you back. It is funny how we do appear to ignore the signals when we are holidaying, celebrating and the like. The one thing I would actually say is that you are definately an intuitive eater...you noticed that you were satisfied and knew exactly how much your body actually needed. Just because we notice doesn't mean we have to do what we are told all the time. Sometimes we need to ignore in order to have a bit of fun or to not feel left out or even so we don't upset aunty when she offers us another piece of cheesecake.
Well done for knowing your body. xx
Posted by: SARAH | June 10, 2008 at 08:39 PM