MINDFUL SNACKING

Have you ever had an uncontrollable craving to eat a certain snack that you know is not good for you, get your hands on it then not be able to stop yourself from eating the whole bag, box or pint?.

Up until I started this easy practice I would have loved to get my hands on these delicious buggers,ALL OF THEM! Now I can stop myself with just one serving...I never would have thought it was possible!

Well, this is the story of my life! Although with all of my new mindful practices I have come up with a little tool that has helped tremendously with this ugly habit of mine! Read on...

During your next "snack attack" try a little Awareness

So one day I was at the grocery store and I just bought it all! Sweet, salty, crunchy, smooth, luscious, chocolaty, creamy, savory you name it! As I was opening my 4th or 5th snack I began to realize that each snack had a memory for me. They all had a very specific feeling that came alone with each and every bite. But each one quite different from the one before.

The first snack I opened were Gluten Free Pretzels "Elizabeth, look how healthy you're being, this isn't bad at all". As I took the first bite I was instantly transported back in time...I was somewhere around age 10, in my dining room during a party my mom was throwing. I was gorging on this creamy delight, I had never tasted anything so satisfying! My mom had just found this little tidbit in a Woman's Day magazine and was trying it out for the first time, it was so easy, a quart of sour cream and a packet of French's Onion Soup Mix...I just called it "Heaven"! Anyway, I digress, the point is that I actually felt all of the feelings that I felt as that 10 year old girl. I felt angry that my mother was distracted, yet again, with yet another party that seemed pointless to me. She was so stressed out, why would she even bother, why would she purposely stress herself out like this? I was always such a lonely child and this dip was so satisfying, like creamy condensed love in a bowl. I went through all of the feelings in my mind, i didn't cry or anything, I just became aware of all of the feelings that came up as I munched. Then the weirdest thing happened, I just didn't want anymore of them. Well, at least not that snack.

I did keep going, the next snack; tortilla chips, salsa and sour cream... what could this craving possibly tell me about myself, this is a relatively new trend? I thought about the flavors swirling around in my mouth and the first thing that came to mind was a dip that I used to make when my kids were young, the infamous 7 layer dip! It had just become popular back then and no wonder, it was fabulous, yet simple as the dickens to make! It didn't even require any cooking skills (thank God because I am an awful cook)! It was my all-time favorite hors dover to bring to any stressed-out-mom event (which was pretty much every event for me back then). With every loaded chip I popped into my mouth I thought about a different feeing I had back in those days. I thought about how I would feel as I stood hovering over my own bowl at someone else's exquisitely decorated home or out on their gorgeous patio looking out over their perfectly manicured lawn and thinking about how shitty my life was...Why can't my life be as perfect as their's is??? God, even my bowl is ugly! But this Dip, it's just sooooo satisfying, everything my life is not!

The more I snacked I realized that the two snacks had a lot in common

(#snackattackawarenessr)