[Dinner last night was actually delicious: baked tilapia with some tangy veggies (red pepper, onion, mushroom), steamed wax beans in some kind of spices, red beans and rice with a little zip to it, apple crisp and cinnamon apple spice tea for dessert.]
I skipped the hike today. I needed to sleep in and I feel like my body is having a bit of a time adjusting to the very low calorie diet we’re, um, enjoying. I did wind up taking a walk down and up the hilly road to the nearest convenience store to purchase new batteries for my camera. It boots up but there is something wrong with the lens electronics. I can view previously shot photos but there’s no image being recorded when I try to take a new picture. Maybe it just needs to dry out more (or I’m just clutching at straws.)
The remaining part of the day was filled with email, reading, a much needed shower and a lot of hunger pangs. I am paying much closer attention to how my body feels here than I do at home, which is a good thing. And I’m wondering how I am going to successfully integrate what I’m learning and (hopefully) habituating here.
It’s one thing to know you have a two hour period each morning for a hike in beautiful surroundings with a group of like-minded people. It’ll be quite another to carve out this time for myself at home in my urban digs, all by myself. The day after I return, for example, is already filled from 10 AM to 11PM with work-related commitments. The following day I am on the road to my church gig at 8:30 AM, and I highly doubt that I am going to want to get up an hour earlier than I absolutely have to so I’ll have time for a 30 minute power walk.
Then there’s the whole matter of food - the planning, shopping and preparing of which has always presented problems. It takes a lot of desire, energy and forethought for me to commit to a certain way of eating, and doing it for myself is a daunting task. It is so easy to slip back into old habits, to get bored with my few default menu options and to give in to food cravings and emotional eating. How to not do that is the question. I’m hoping to discover some possible solutions while I’m here.
