If there’s one thing I’ve learned this week about being back on the SW plan, it’s a greater sense of mindfulness about my eating. Mindfulness has been a media buzz word for a while, and it’s something I didn’t really buy into that much. That might be because I’ve seen a million or more self help books advertised about it, magazine and newspaper articles, blog posts etc. Or, it might just be because the concept of focussing on myself in a calm, quiet environment for anything more than three seconds is impossible with two small children, a job and a dog. However, I think I had a lightbulb moment this week, thanks, in part, to SW and also to Jane Wenham Jones’ hugely enjoyable book 100 Ways to Fight the Flab and Still Have wine and Chocolate which suggests that delayed gratification and sensible choices might be the key to maintaining or losing weight, while also being a thoroughly entertaining read.

So, basically, I’ve come to the conclusion that mindfulness doesn’t have to be sitting in the lotus position and clearing your head. It doesn’t have to be periods of deep meditation while everything else is in chaos around you. What seems to work for me is being more mindful of the actions in my life, especially those connected with food. I’ve found myself asking the question ‘do you really want that?’ when faced with a food conflict this week. For example, I could have easily dropped a bottle of Prosecco on Saturday night along with the pate, luscious wholemeal bread and schnitzel, and a few months ago I’d have thought ‘look, you’re up to 19 syns already with the food, sod it, let’s have the wine, too!’. But I didn’t. I made the choice to enjoy the pate and schnitzel, even though they took me a little over the maximum 15 syns, because the pate was half of a small jar, of which my husband had the other half, and the same with the schnitzel. It was logical, it was an informed choice and I was in control.

And that word, control, is the difference. Or perhaps ‘mindful’ is a more apt word. I was mindful of the choices I was making and I didn’t throw my hands up and go ‘bugger it, let’s do THIS now!’. Likewise, on Sunday The Husband cooked a casserole which had flour and oil in, which immediately meant 8.5 syns. It would have been so easy to have abandoned my limits, knowing that I had no control over the cooking process. However, by counting them in, (possibly erring on the side of caution, but I wanted to be sure), I stayed mindful. And I as tempted to have a ‘cheat’ day when I knew he was cooking; to just chuck it all out of the window and go a little more ‘flexible’. But this time I didn’t. This time I sorted my choices for the rest of the day based on the counted syns for lunch. And it worked.  That’s the difference in my approach this time round. And the food was lovely :).

Oh, and the result on the scales? 1.5lb off, which, while a smaller loss than I’d hoped for, was still in the right direction, so, onwards and downwards (on the scales!!).