Wine & Dine; Effort & Attitude

A few years ago, my husband and I were fortunate to share an old bottle of wine, a friend received as a thank you gift. The wine was wrapped in a plain brown paper bag and the giver merely said “here and thanks.”  

After a little research, our friend learned that is was a bottle of great value. It was unlikely that many, or even any, bottles from that vintage remained. The exact vintage escapes me, but it was a Chateau d’Yquem from WWII or earlier.

Our generous friend invited us, and a few other couples, over to taste the wine. We gathered in his dining room and anticipated the bottle opening. A few remarks were made by our host, on the history of this bottle.

The giver of this bottle was a US soldier stationed in Europe during WWII. His hobby was to acquire young wine from good vintages and ship it home. He eventually had enough wine to open a liquor store. When he met up with our friend, he was quite advanced in years, and he was giving away his wines as gifts of appreciation.

We gathered in our friends living room in anticipation of tasting of this wine. Naturally we tasted it with heightened awareness. We had small sips and let the wine linger in our mouth.

I had almost at forgotten about that event until this past weekend on date night. We got to talking about wine. (no surprise)  As I was sipping on a California Cabernet Reserve, I thought about truly enjoying little pleasures like, fine wine. It was not the quantity of wine that was important, it was the enjoyment of each sip. We didn’t need to finish the bottle, so we gave a healthy pour to our server.

A few days later, I was trouble shooting with a coaching client. She was struggling with meals and portion control. She was skipping lunch and picking on food all day long. Sitting to eat lunch for her, was viewed as a chore and so she picked on food mindlessly all day long. She was overeating every day, and she was at a loss for how to make it stop. 

Then because we both enjoy wine, I thought about taking a different approach. I asked her to consider this: What if every meal was approached with the same attitude as drinking fine wine, like in our friends living room?

Instead of grabbing gobbling and running to the next task, what if we gave respect to, and  sincere thanks for our meals. When we picture our meals as mini celebrations we naturally slow down and savor our food. This gives our brain a chance to get the fullness signal. This one change alone can make a huge difference in portion control. Meals are meant to be eaten in a relaxed manner, not over the sink or behind our steering wheel.

When we put forth a little effort, and adopt an attitude of respect and gratitude for our meals, we automatically practice portion control. This my friends, is a powerful application of using gratitude in health wellness and weight management. This Chuck Wilson quote is an appropriate mantra for remembering our power over food.

“There are two things in life we alone control…

our effort and our attitude”

For more  information on weight management for women in the middle years, subscribe to the Grateful Fitness Newsletter here  #DrivetoThriveover45

ps- for  meal inspiration, check out  Running With Spoons  for some sweet and savory recipes with really cool photos!

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