Watch what you eat

The BF (oops I mean BT, betrothed) and I have undergone the brilliant endeavor of joining weight watchers in order to get our eating and drinking habits in check. They have unconsciously gotten a bit out of hand. You know how it is when you’re in love, right? Drinking a little more wine, eating out a bit more, eating larger portions (it’s hard to cook only for two) and generally not paying attention can add on the pounds and make you unaware of what you consume.

That’s where WW comes in. I have always been a huge fan of the weight watchers system because it's all about portion control. You eat what you want but pay attention to how much, which is something I have lost track of. Did you know that a serving of pasta is only the size of your hand? That’s insane. I could eat enough spaghetti to fill both hands and feet and then some. A serving of cheese is the size of 2 dice. Now that’s not to say you don’t eat the entire wheel but know that you’re eating 25 servings.

The tricky thing is how to figure out how many servings you’re supposed to eat in a day in order to maintain health and keep oneself from packing on the freshman 15, or in my case the fiancé 5. Now I have always been a giant believer in mindful eating and paying attention to your body to know when your hungry/what to eat etc. but sometimes when you’re busy it’s hard to pay attention and that’s why the BT and I have decided to enlist help.

There are tons of ways you can learn how much you need to eat. The USDA has a fabulous site called www.mypyramid.gov that explains healthy eating and portion control and there is even a tracker so you can track what you’re eating and pay attention. Most of the time I don’t even realize I’m snaking on food at work unless I am writing it down and actually paying attention. Also I was recently introduced by an awesome colleague of mine (Mary-Ellen Di Paola; the best dietitian I know) to Harvard's own version of the governments' healthy plate. www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/pyramid/

It is extremely informative and I think Harvard did a great job.

This week I would love everyone to start paying attention to what they consume. Maybe you will find that you don’t eat enough. If you look at your day and realize that your food intake consists of 7 cups of coffee and a muffin until dinner, it might explain those afternoon headaches. Maybe you aren’t reading a label and instead of one serving in your Trader Joe's salad, it’s 2. (I did that)

If paying attention drives you crazy or makes you a neurotic mess then please disregard this message and go back to mindful eating. You can read more about that here: wellnesswithsarah.blogspot.com/2010/05/in-fog.html Otherwise, have a great week and Bon Appétit’

Be Good to your Body, it's where you Live

Piece de resistance

As many of you may or may not know I recently became engaged to be married. It's thrilling. I am overjoyed and incredibly excited to be starting on this new and exciting adventure. I have jumped in with both feet. I bought three bridal magazines and a book entitled, "The busy brides handbook for planning a wedding." I am really good at organizing and hostessing so I was pretty certain that book or no book planning a wedding couldn't be that hard, right?

Wrong! Planning a wedding is incredibly in depth and complicated and anyone who has planned one will undoubtably have some horror stories. From venues to guest lists to favors and vows there are so many minute details involved that it would take a bride of steel not to get stressed out at some point in the process.

The fiance' and I were discussing said stresses the other night and after my regularly scheduled panic attack, I remembered what the wedding is about. We are planning an event to celebrate our love and connect our two worlds and families together. Whether that event is at a BBQ in our backyard or at the country club of the moment, it will still be about connection. Part of that connection is the planning of said day. Doing the prep work to create the piece de resistance.

It's a bit like preparing a meal. Going to the farmers market and picking out the fruits and vegetables. Using your budgeted monies to decide which items to buy. Finding a recipe and washing and preparing the ingredients. Putting love and fun into creating a meal you then share with your friends, family or self.

It's also like the journey of exercise. Our exercise goals don't just miraculously appear. We have to plan them and work at them. We have to get our butts outside to walk and make our way to gyms and sports teams. But is the process of getting there becoming half the stress? If you are stressing yourself to the gym are you negating some of the benefit? I don't know, but it makes sense to me that stressing out over the preparation of health can't be good for you.

It's the same way I am trying to think about my nuptuals. Am I fostering connection and love by stressing out over tables and chairs? Probably not. Am I progressing my health by freaking out over the workout schedule in my day planner? Probably not. Am I nurturing my waistline by being aggravated in the supermarket? Probably not.

This week let's all try (myself as always included) to make the journey part of the end result. Being now by taking some deep breaths and realizing that you are exactly where you should be and each step is part of the meal.