Blast From the Past - Girl Scouts Project

Found these clippings recently. So fun to see what I was a part of back then. I loved being a Girl Scout. We had a lot of fun in my troup.

February 28 2020

At lunch, I was very intentional about pace and behavior of putting down fork between bites. I was a little too full. At dinner, there were no issues. I kept intentional behavior. It's not yet 'natural' but it's better each time. I did think about how good ti would feel to take the leftover pasta in the fridge and binge. I was super tired after a VERY LONG DAY.

February 27 2020

At lunch, I started off the first few bites without thinking, then caught myself and told myself to slow down and pause. At dinner, I felt rushed because of time needed to get to bed for 4:30am wake-up. I still followed behavioral definition of abstinence.

My Abstinence

So, my new sponsor has been having me work on developing my definition of abstinence (the OA version of sober)... basically the behaviors that I will label "this is abstinence for me."

 
So far, I've come up with that it's a mindful way of eating. If/when I'm in a binge, there's nothing mindful about what, how much, or the pace at which I'm eating.

 
So, right now, I've identified that l will put the fork/spoon down between each bite or when I'm eating something that doesn't require utensils, I will pull my hand away from my face or put the food item down between each bite.

 
I also think it's important that I mindfully taste my food. So, I've been more aware of how my food tastes and that I chew each bite fully before putting another in my mouth.

 
Additionally, I've also found it more mindful to look up from whatever it is that I'm eating. As if I were carrying on a conversation with someone over dinner, even if I'm eating alone.
It's a pause. It's creating space. It's intentional. It's mindful.

 
Doing this has been very interesting and very helpful as there are times when I'm in a rush due to my crazy schedule and the rush makes me feel like my eating is binging, when it's not. Developing my behavioral definition of abstinence (mindful behaviors) helps me be able to better track what's happening when I'm feeling like binging versus when I'm just feeling rushed due to my schedule.