Moderation365

I mentioned earlier this week/last week that I signed up for a webinar series with Jill Coleman of JillFit called Moderation365.  The first webinar was last night and I wanted to recap what I learned, both for me to revisit as needed but for you as well, if you're interested!

A lot of last night was "introductory", a kind of who, what, where, when, why, how kind of thing. Here are my big take-away messages.

1. You don't have to be perfect; you just have to be consistently engaged in the process.  Perfect eating isn't an option, there is no such thing, and even if there were, it wouldn't be sustainable. So it comes down to how patient you can be and how you view the process. If you understand there will be bumps and failures and bad days, but you are resilient and bounce back to moderation (not to deprivation/tightening up), then you will succeed.  This one is huge for me and I feel like this is a quote I need to hang on my fridge, on my bathroom mirror, on my office wall. It's so appropriate to SO many things in life, not just eating.

2. The MMAD Nutrition Model.  Jill promised more about this in the next two weeks, but MMAD stands for Moderation, Mindfulness, Abundance mindset, and Daily Nutritional Commitments. She talked mostly about moderation during this particular webinar - what is it, how do you achieve it, and how it is very different for each person.  Essentially, moderation is "navigating the middle" with your eating.  At every meal, or every food decision, you should ask "What is the middle choice?"  The middle choice is usually the best because it falls in the middle of the deprivation-indulgence scale (DIS) - that place where you are satisfied, not deprived or over indulged.  Sometimes, this means pre-empting feelings of deprivation by choosing to eat something that is a "treat" but is moderate (i.e. a small piece of dark chocolate, a glass of wine, a piece of cheese, etc) and is not a trigger food.

3. But what should I do when I go overboard?  Don't panic! Sometimes, using consistent exposure is a good thing - for example, if there are foods you crave, have a little every day so that you aren't feeling deprived and then binge on that thing. Practice mindful eating by getting in touch with the physical sensations (am I actually hungry or am I bored/thirsty/nervous/anxious/whatever?). Ask "is this particular food a trigger food for me?" and finally, resist the urge to tighten up the next day/meal - just go back to moderation, so you aren't swaying the deprivation-indulgence scale and setting yourself up for going overboard again.

I'm excited to hear next week's talk, and keep thinking about and learning from this week's talk!