Installing Post Vacation Discipline

There's a saying in baseball that a player is "lost at the plate". He could be a good hitter, but for whatever reason, at this moment he's not hitting. Pitches that he should be ripping into the outfield pass through to the catcher as he harmlessly offers at them. Curveballs are as evasive as dragonflies.

I was lost at the plate this week, too. Not at home plate, where I am for once hitting consistently in softball, but at the dining plate (and at times, the "straight out of the container" plate). I was a "what the heck, we're on vacation" eater in July. That works for a while, as we tend to be active on vacation. But when I get back to my desk job, that becomes a problem. It's a particular challenge at night, when I can stay up at home, but not so much on the road.

Soccer under Mt. Rainier on a sunny Seattle day

I was grasping at options to pull out of my eating slump, when I got assigned to two and a half hours as a "field marshal" at a local soccer tournament. My son plays for a team in the organization that runs it, and parents were required to take a shift at the event. It was the hottest day of the year in Seattle, and the mid-day sun was upon me.

But a wonderful thing happened. Nothing. There was action on the field, but the parents were remarkably mellow. No soccer hooligans for me to corral. I chased down a couple of errant balls, but most of the time I was just standing meditatively, under a cloudless sky, with a gentle breeze. Mount Rainier loomed in the background for added inspiration. I checked my phone, twice, I think. But mostly I just stood there.

Disconnecting is a healthy thing and I had an epiphany to work my way out of my junk food rut:

1. Choose 75% of my food items from vegetables, fruit, protein, and whole grains.

2. Commit to not eating after 8:00.

The salty snacks I had been having for three weeks had overwhelmed my body's natural stop signs. I had to get healthy food back in the driver's seat. And since late night eating has been my main problem of late, I needed to fill up on healthy food, and then stop before late-night eating took hold.

So that's my plan. I'm out of my funk. Still thinking a lot about FUELS - Food, U (You), Exercise, Liquids, and Sleep, and doing well on the last four. But I needed some clarity about eating. And it came when I was alone with my thoughts.