As part of mindful eating, I sometimes talk about how it can help to focus on a feeling of gratitude for food. But recently I had an experience that made me appreciate something even more basic. Water. More specifically, running water out of faucets. Water that comes when you want it, in seemingly limitless supply. But when it’s not limitless, and it’s not there when you want it, it gives you a whole different perspective. Running Out It started on a Thursday morning when I g

Agatha Christie stories aren’t best known for making you think about food choices, but recently, one of them did that for me. It happened when I read the Hercule Poirot short story, “Four and Twenty Blackbirds.” The story begins with Poirot joining a friend named Mr. Bonnington for dinner. After their waitress, Molly, took their order, Mr. Bonnington noted: “Good girl, that…. Was quite a beauty once – artists used to paint her. She knows about food, too – and that’s a great d

Last week I wrote about how diets offer the false promise of happiness, but it occurred to me afterward that they also offer another type of false promise. They tell you that your old way of eating will end. Along with that, your old way of life will also end, with something new and better taking its place. But changing your eating habits isn’t like getting a new car. You don’t turn in the old one and come home with something new and shiny, although that’s what diets suggest.