My goal, again, is to eat sugar in mindful moderation and buy only fair trade. This past weekend I failed pretty badly. I definitely went beyond what I would call "moderation". And there was precious little mindfulness involved in the eating. In fact, I hardly stopped to think at all before having that piece of … Continue reading Dealing with Failure
Artistic Interlude
I'm out of town for a wedding this weekend so instead of a regular blog post, here's a little something I sketched yesterday (today, as I write this). This is my first time trying out Krita, a free, open source digital painting program. I'm basically clueless when it comes to painting software, but I have … Continue reading Artistic Interlude
Banana Dates Turmeric
It was raining in Vancouver yesterday (today, as I write) after a long stretch of sunny weather. I'm glad the plants in our yard got a nice, refreshing root-soak. But it's a bit harder to keep my toddler busy and happy on a rainy day. Thankfully we have a stroller with a very effective rain … Continue reading Banana Dates Turmeric
Establishing a New Writing Habit
So far I've been writing about trying to stop a habit that hasn't been good for me: eating too much sugary food. But today I want to acknowledge a new habit that I want to keep: writing! Quite a while before starting Step Back Think Forward, I had a different blog. It meant a lot … Continue reading Establishing a New Writing Habit
Sugar, Sugar Everywhere
External and Internal Cues I think it’s time to step back and look at the context of my cookie monster cravings. What are the triggers or cues in my environment that make me start to think about eating sugar? Being in my kitchen (we keep chocolate in the cupboard, and sometimes ice cream in the … Continue reading Sugar, Sugar Everywhere
No Sugar Tonight (In My Coffee)
Theology Thought Thursday This is Part II of the previous TTT. I’d like to get back to the ethical dilemma surrounding fair trade, and the article in the Guardian that I mentioned before. Hopefully you can read the full article as well, but here are a few points I gleaned that I wanted to hash … Continue reading No Sugar Tonight (In My Coffee)
Sugar, Are You Lying to Me?
Goal and Motivation Recap My goal is to eat sugar in mindful moderation and buy only fair trade. My motivation is to enjoy and have a healthy relationship with food, and to minimize any harm done to others by my consumption of luxury foods. This Is Your Brain on Dopamine There’s a reason bad habits … Continue reading Sugar, Are You Lying to Me?
Finding my Footing
Photo by Juan Pablo Arenas from Pexels I'm glad to say that I've been continuing to moderate my consumption of sugary foods. However, I’m starting to fall back into my old habit of impulsively reaching for and eating sweets or using them as an energy boost. (It can hardly be called a “boost” – it’s more of a … Continue reading Finding my Footing
Listen Up, Rich Folks
Theology Thought Thursday Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.... Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in … Continue reading Listen Up, Rich Folks
Self-Control Saint: The Sloth
Imagining myself as a sloth might not be the best way to motivate myself to get up and do something, but when my goal is to not do something, a key solution for me has been to sloooooow dooooowwwwn. ...one way to immediately boost willpower: Slow your breathing down to... ten to fifteen seconds per … Continue reading Self-Control Saint: The Sloth