Inoculatte

I've been reading the book 101 Things to Do Before You Diet, by Mimi Spencer. It's all about taking up a healthy lifestyle, rather than getting caught up in fad diets and wasting hours pondering how your body is going to ruin while you stuff your mouth with cake.

I've really been enjoying the book which is full of commonsense, plenty of research and bucketfuls of fun.

Today I stumbled across the concept of 'inoculatte'. It's a term dubbed by the Washington Post to the habit of "taking coffee intravenously when you're running late" and indicates a greater social problem with food - not having enough time to prepare healthy meals.

I work in an organisation where people consume heaps of coffee, and as a non-coffee drinker, it's easy to get sucked into the hot chocolates to match their high consumption. This paragraph today just reminded me how important it is to plan meals, no just run out the door and think about lunch at 12pm, which I've been getting into a habit of when I go into work.

Mimi talks about how life has always included food, and that there is so much more to food than the simple eating. We need to remember the social aspects of eating, like eating together around a table and enjoying a conversation, all the while slowing our meals down so we aid digestion as well as connection with others. She also talks about taking pleasure in our food, and not getting caught up on the guilt of particular foods and then gorging ourselves on those foods to deal with our guilt.

I know I've spent plenty of time thinking about eating healthier this week, and as a result, I've actually been enjoying my time in the kitchen, rather than dreading it. I can only hope that this continues!