LESSONS FROM A DOG BLOG - DAY 1 - BREAKFAST

Here I am on day one of living my life the way my dog, Emma, recommends. I have to admit that I wasn't thinking about it when I woke up this morning. In fact, I didn't remember it, until I was just about to take my first bite of food. I'm glad that I did remember at that point, because my first assignment is to eat with gusto.

My breakfast, this morning, consisted of two fried eggs, and some really hot cooked buckwheat with fresh pineapple. Okay, not quite your average breakfast, but then, my breakfasts rarely are.

It was easy to eat the eggs with gusto. I just got the attitude of being really happy and grateful that I was eating, and shoveled them right down. As Emma would do, I made sure that I got every last scrap on the plate, licking off the stuff that was stuck to the plate and fork.

The buckwheat and pineapple mixture was another matter, because they were too hot to eat fast. As I pondered how to eat something hot with gusto, it dawned on me that "gusto" really didn't have to mean eating really fast. Instead, I decided that "gusto" was really about attitude. What Emma is exhibiting, when she eats with her usual enthusiasm, is that she is extremely happy, and excited, to be eating. It just reminded me of how important it is to remember to be grateful for what you have. So, even though I didn't shovel the buckwheat and pineapple into my mouth, I did my best to continue to be excited about, and grateful for, the fact that I had food.

I soon discovered that this was hard, because of my wandering mind. It wandered off onto what I wanted to accomplish during the day, and onto what I was going to write here. At some point, I would notice that I was no longer being present on the actual eating with gusto, and returned my mind to the fact that that was what I was attempting to do.

Then, as I made my way through the food, another issue came up. I was getting full, and I still had quite a bit of food left. This would never stop Emma. She would continue eating with gusto until her life was in danger. Of course, I don't think that that is something to emulate. However, I did feel that it was important to eat all of the food in front of me, in order to meet my commitment. So, I ate every last bite. Those last few bites were pretty hard, though.

Now, I have to wonder if eating with gusto will lead to weight gain. It shouldn’t, since I am not going to make huge enough portions for myself to make that an issue, just as I don’t allow Emma access to enough food to endanger her health and slender figure.

As I write this, I am reminded that, when I was young, I rarely ate all of my food. It is an aspect of my personality that I have a really hard time finishing things, and I often exhibited that when I was eating, and sometimes, I still do. I simply stop eating when there are still a couple of bites left, especially if it is something that I eat regularly. It has nothing to do with being full, it is just that I don't finish it. I wonder if that will change as I go through this process.

I did not lick off the pieces that were stuck to my bowl, As Emma would have done. I don't think that it occurred to me. Or, perhaps, I was just relieved to have finished that last bite of food.

Well, that was breakfast. I wonder how much I'll have to write about after lunch.