In the Am I Hungry? Mindful Eating program, we talk about the fact that you don’t need to eat a lot of food to feel satisfied – but when you’re eating, it doesn’t always feel that way. If you’ve gotten used to eating larger amounts, you might have a hard time scaling back because you think you need that more food. And it’s even easier to think that in restaurants that give you large portions. This is something I sometimes struggle with as well, and during the pandemic, I’ve noticed that the amount of food I’m eating at a sitting has crept up. So over the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to be more mindful of portion sizes, and I’ve come up with a few suggestions for how to make this easier.

A few days ago I was out for a walk on a lovely morning, with sun and a mix of blue sky and white, puffy clouds. Then I spotted a single, dark cloud in the middle of all that lightness. It looked out of place, but it also changed my mood. Instead of enjoying my walk, I began wondering if we were supposed to get rain (which would actually be a good thing given our current drought). I started looking around for other dark clouds, almost expecting to find something else out of the ordinary. It made me realize how easy it was for one unexpected thing to shift our mindset, which in turn got me thinking about how it’s so easy to get derailed from eating mindfully. Maybe you’ve experienced this, to

A few weeks ago, I was astonished to see Halloween candy already out in the local grocery store. I expected it around September (although even that’s early), but August? I didn’t think too much about it, though, until I saw a segment of The Daily Show where Trevor Noah talked about it. He said that Halloween candy manufacturers are worried about their sales due to the pandemic, so to try to make sure they sell enough, they’re starting earlier. They’re also focusing more on family-sized packs because they’re expecting people to stay local for Halloween. I don’t know why this surprised me, but it did. Is candy really the high priority right now? But then it got me thinking of all the ways that

I got a new iPhone a few months ago, and it came with a new version of the Health app. This new version includes comparisons to my prior activity levels, with such “helpful” information as: I have to admit that I feel a bit prickly when I see these comparisons come up. It feels like my phone is judging me or taking me to task for not doing as much as I “should” be. But of course, my phone and the Health app don’t have emotions. I’m the one putting judgment behind this, even though it doesn’t serve any purpose except to make me feel defensive. It’s also interesting because I’ve come a long way in my self-talk, but apparently it’s a continuing journey – and I suspect that’s true for most peopl

I was going to write about something else today, but then I saw Bill Maher’s New Rule from his show on Friday, about the so-called Quarantine 15, and I wanted to respond to it. You may have heard that some people are gaining weight while we’re in lockdown, and unfortunately, those carrying extra weight seem to be at high risk for becoming severely ill and dying if they get COVID-19. I’m not going to argue with the study showing that connection, although I do wonder how much obesity itself is the cause. Also along those lines, I find it interesting that even though Maine has the highest obesity rate of any New England state, and we tie with Virginia in position 28 for obesity in the nation, w