Years ago, I had this “rule” of sorts. I told myself that I could not watch TV in the evenings unless my hands were busy. I would give myself a manicure, or quilt, or crochet, or knit, or scrapbook. The beauty of this rule was that if my hands were busy, not only did I accomplish something with “TV time”, but it drastically reduced the amount of junk I put in my mouth.

I figure the Proverbs 31 woman had to be thin. That woman kept her hands busy! There’s no way her “candle didn’t go out” because she was plopped on the sofa eating herself into a stupor while she watched pointless “entertainment”. So, last weekend, the Husband and I went to Hobby Lobby where I picked up a new book on drawing and five skeins of yarn. The last couple of nights I’ve begun work on an afghan while the TV is on. Last night, I didn’t eat anything after dinner (granted, we did eat dinner later than usual due to our schedule). I didn’t realize this until I woke up this morning. This is a big deal for me… not so much the not eating, but the not noticing.

I’m still trying to listen to my hunger cues, and I doubt I’ve lost an ounce, but I’m feeling less and less stressed over food. I have reached the “blah” stage though. This is the stage where I know I’m hungry, but everything sounds “blah”. I think that’s because food has had such emotional attachments for me, but now that the emotion is out of it I’m not sure what I want. Now that’s I’ve allowed myself to believe that I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want, it’s lost it’s luster. I’m hopeful that the blah stage will eventually shift to where healthier choices are more appealing… at least, that’s what I’ve read happens so we’ll see.

In the meantime, I’m praying scripture in the mornings, waiting to eat when I’m hungry, and keeping my hands busy in the evenings.