How much is enough? We will never know if we don't have a frame of reference for what is "right size" in the first place. In the land of super size, however, we are completely confused by portion distortion, and that makes us feel sad and bad when we actually see what a right size portion is. It certainly doesn't feel adequate given what our eyes and our stomachs are used to enjoying.
This is one of life's lessons that speaks to restraint, moderation and indulgence. We must admit, if we intend to lose weight, we have to be smart about appropriate servings. This starts with educating ourselves to labels and recommended serving sizes noted on boxes, purchasing food scales, measuring cups and spoons and maybe even buying smaller plates, bowls and glasses. We also have to distinguish between healthy, nutritious weight-loss friendly foods to eat often and indulgence foods to enjoy occasionally. There will be room for more salad, veggies and fruit. There will be room for limited treats like processed carbs, fats and sugars. The good news is that we can still have whatever we want, but we have to be savvy enough to know how to get satisfied with the major food groups and how to manage the extras. We do this by practicing. We train ourselves to get satisfied with less, and then over time, we do find ourselves satisfied with less.
This is not just a weight loss pursuit, this is actually a life long lesson in balancing a healthy lifestyle. We cannot work all the time and get no relaxation time. That's fattening. We cannot endure struggle after struggle without taking a break. That's defeating. We cannot spend all of our time serving others without serving our needs. That's unhealthy. We also can't expect to be perfect at moderating all of these pursuits. Life is a challenge. Regardless of the best of intentions, things happen. If we have built enough wiggle room into the schedule, though, we can hopefully recover from these minor blips and keep a sense of humor and continue.
If we thought of life like a big apple--something red and shiny and crispy and wonderful--something that we could hold in our hand--we know that we can only eat it bite by bite. If we thought of the wonderful things that might happen in our lives, every day, we know we can only experience them moment by moment. If we thought of ourselves as a work in progress, then we could accept where we are in our life's work today, at this moment and let that be enough.
You are enough. The right size portions will be enough. The life you wish to dream of and build, one day at a time, is enough.
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