Rules - Old vs New

You must eat everything on your plate / don't waste food
I'm grown now, I don't have to clean everything off of my plate. In some cultures its rude to eat everything - they will keep filling your plate thinking that you are still hungry. Besides now I have paid for the food its up to me to not waste by preparing too large a quantity in the first place.

Finish one thing and go on to the next
This was a rule I had to live by as a child. It was pointed out to me in my early twenties that was how I ate - I never really thought about it. Then I observed other people eating, others did eat a bite of this and then a bite of something different. This is one I'm still working on.

You don't get desert unless you eat everything
Come on, calories on top of a full meal you may not have really liked anyway. Besides you don't have to take a large portion of desert, sometimes a taste is all that is needed to satisfy the sweet tooth.

4-4-3-2 servings / day (Grains / bread, Vegetables and fruits, Proteins, Dairy)
I think the overemphasis on starches on this daily food system was wrong. It was pounded into us as kids. But I now crave starches too often.

Don't snack between meals
If you are exercising you need to eat 2 planned snacks to keep you from crashing. If you aren't exercising you need 2 low calorie snacks to avoid that same crash. Make sure it isn't sugar you are snacking on add some lower fat dairy item to add some protein.

Breakfast must be bacon, eggs, and buttered toast.
My favorite breakfast now is fruit and a small slice of cheese.

Water must be consumed with every meal
Adequate water must be consumed daily just don't dilute your stomach acids used for digestion during your meal.


Today's Tarot Card
Three of pentacles: upright
Skill becomes proficient, success, rewards from proficiency
In context of my diet this weekend it was all about choices. The skills take practice to make better decisions and habits when it comes to eating.

Being a weekend I have no structure to my day as I don't have the framework of my workplace. I am left to my own devices. So I had to make healthier decisions which meant grocery shopping and getting better alternatives. It didn't just stop at shopping when I came home I washed and prepared fruit and vegetables and set them prominently in front of the refrigerator.

I also bought some better carb starchy / salty snacks. These I divided into measured portions and placed them into a plastic zip bags and placed the bags in a bin. No, I didn't get the greatest snacks but I stayed away from potato chips, I can't eat just one - serving. I got Corn chips and pretzels weighed out individual servings. If snacks are packaged into servings you remember how many servings you had. If I sat down with a already opened bag, I would just plow through the whole thing not knowing how many servings I just had.

One thing about the crumbs at the bottom of the bag, I can throw out corn chip and pretzel crumbs - I have never tossed away a potato chip crumb.

So I have to practice the skills of conscious eating and normal portions to keep on the road to success.