Do You Pay Attention To Your Overall Feedback

Have you heard of paying attention to your feedback?

It is a term often used by Weight Watchers that basically means "pay attention to how you feel after you eat something you shouldn't". The idea is that if you  remember the feedback your body gives you after a misstep, it might prevent you from making the same mistake the next time around.

In theory it works, but I tend to swear I will remember the "feedback" after a specific event and then the next time the same food is put in front of me I go to town all over again. It takes years of repeated mistakes before I slowly...very slowly...start to learn.

Lately though, I have been noticing a more general form of feedback.

It started when I was on vacation.

Everything was great at the beginning, but I was noticing by the end of the holiday that no matter how great a time I was having, or how much I was "enjoying" the bad food, I was becoming more sluggish in general. I kept up the pace of my "active vacation" and loved every minute of it, but as time went by, maintaining the pace of "enjoyment" started to feel like work.

I think that is why Jamie and I were saying on the last day that we were ready to go home. We needed some "normal" in our life.

That was the first time I noticed the more general "feedback"of food.

Following that I think I started paying attention to my feedback over the week. I noticed that my energy level was always high in the first part of the week and lower toward the end of the week. As silly as this may sound it really only hit me as to "why" this might be the case today.

I don't think that it is any coincidence that it is tied to "weigh-in day".

As I head toward Wednesday night each week I take particular care to eat healthy and proper portions. I feel fantastic on Monday's, Tuesday's and Wednesdays.

After the Wednesday evening meeting, the Wednesday night through to Saturday can tend to get a little more "loose". It is when I tend to confess my slip ups or go out to dinner for processed food.

Funny isn't it? Eat well...feel good...eat not so well (or processed)...feel less energetic. Hmmm...could be something to that...not sure. LOL

I think Weight Watchers should have a class on a person's weekly feedback. How do you feel at different times of the week. Is there a pattern? How do you change that?

On a different note I tried to trick Jamie yesterday. I took the dinner Jamie didn't like from the day before, threw it in the Vitamix, tuned it into soup and reserved it to him. He still did't like it.

Lesson learned. Bad tasting food s bad tasting food. Although he did eat the soup so I guess I accomplished something :-)

Today I am back at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition doing the second half of my "Nutrition Through The Lifespan" course. Just what I need...more work! I am excited about learning again though.

Be healthy!

Alan