mind over matter

I love eating. If I could eat every minute of every day, I would.

I'm not even exaggerating.

Literally, every minute.

Luckily, about two years ago I discovered my passion for running and yoga, and then last year I fell in love with Muay Thai. This year's athletic discoveries have so far included MMA and Parkour.

But that's not to say that my love for food hasn't disappeared.
Far from it.

In fact, I'm sort of convinced that there's a short circuit somewhere between my stomach and my brain. Because that little voice you're supposed to hear that tells you when you're full -- I don't have one.

You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. This is something I'd "talk to my doctor" about, if she wasn't so ridiculously useless. (She may or may not have almost killed my grandmother by misdiagnosing something recently, so this isn't just pretentious 'Web MD' Larissa talking).

Anyway, the fact is that I never feel full (no matter how many helpings of dinner I wolf down) and that's a hard fact to live with. Because, like I said above, I very much enjoy eating. There's just so much yummy food out there!

So most days I have to make a conscious effort not to go for thirds at dinner, or eat two footlong subs for lunch, or have half a tub of nanaimo bar frozen yogurt right before bed. Of course, the fact that I'm a stress-eater makes things worse, because when am I not worrying about something? I mean, really!

Thus, I have (over the past two or three years) become a master in the art of distraction. When there's only twenty minutes to dinner and I'm really craving a snack, I pick up my guitar instead. Or I try to write a paragraph or two in my novel. Or I do some homework. Or heck, sometimes I just lie in my bed and play a game on my phone to keep my mind off food.

But when I say 'master', the reality is that this is still something I need to be intentional about every day. And after over two years of living like this, I can't say that it's gotten much easier. Plus, I still slip up. A lot.

It's not impossible though. And this is coming from someone who is currently daydreaming about Mars Bars, hot chocolate and cupcakes.

I don't know if this post will benefit anybody - I'm not even sure why I felt like writing it today, but this is what was on my mind as I went for my nighttime run.

Sidenote: night running and toe-shoes -- get into them!

I guess this 'mind over matter' stuff doesn't only apply to food. That's just one of the areas I struggle with. But hopefully you can take something from today's post. If not, there will be a new one tomorrow discussing something entirely different. Like how to build a proper bomb shelter, or the ABCs of TY beanie babies.

I think the future's most exciting when you don't know what it holds.