Saturday, March 16th

The weekend!  This weekend is nice because I feel like I need a rest after another busy week, but it is also sad because Julia has left.  :0(  Here is a picture of us at the breakfast table.

Julia, Patty, Me, Alyson

The other ladies here have been calling us, "Sisters from another Mister"

The all important passing off of the Tide to those who are staying longer.  (That's Barb in the background)

After Julia left, I went to my room and relaxed for a few hours.  I caught up on my Parks and Recreation watching...very important.  Lunch today was a turkey minestrone; no surprise that it was delicious.  Then Alyson, Patty, Denise, and I hopped in a rental and headed to Weston, VT (about 20 minutes away).  We went to the 'famous' Vermont Country Store and spent probably 2 hours browsing and shopping.  It felt good to be in 'normal' society again!  I got some Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette because we have been eating that here on our salads and it is awesome.  Below is a picture of the sign we saw as we pulled out of the store's parking lot.  I thought it was sweet. 

For two weeks now, we have been hearing about this Priory in Weston, so we decided to check it out.  They were having Vespers at 5:30PM, so we stuck around for that.  It was pretty awesome.  The monks sang some beautiful songs and read a few prayers and one reading in about 20 minutes.  It was just so peaceful.  I really enjoyed it and I am glad we went.

Not a great picture of the grounds, but I thought the light was beautiful.

The building where the service was held.

The visitor's waiting room.  We were in here for about 45 minutes while we waited for Vespers to start.

After the Priory, we headed back to Ludlow and went out to dinner.  Now, I must say that the four of us were quite anxious to have our first meal outside of the Green Mountain Snow Globe (we used to call this our 'bubble' but when it snows, it feels more like we are in a snow globe).  So we all discussed what we were going to order and our strategies and it turned out to be a great meal.  I wanted to follow the Plate Model that we have been learning about here (50% veggies, 25% starch, 25% protein).  I ordered the baked BBQ chicken with steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes.  I mentioned to the ladies that I did not want to eat the warm rolls that they would be bringing out to the table because I thought the potatoes would be more satisfying.  The other three agreed and so when the poor girl brought the bread basket, we all practically yelled at her, "Stop! We don't want any bread!"  It was a liberating moment.

When my food came out, I stopped the urge to dig right in and instead, took the time to make my plate fit into the plate model.  I removed one of the two chicken breast halves and half of my potatoes from my plate onto my unused bread plate.  Then I scraped off any excess BBQ sauce and noted that the amount of broccoli I was given was in fact about 50% of my plate.  Then I began eating mindfully....and it was delicious.  I did leave some potatoes and broccoli on my plate as I was getting full and looking back, I probably could have left a few bites of chicken too.  But listening to my body's queues about when I am full will take time and practice.  But, having removed all of the food from my plate before I started, made it a heck of a lot easier to stop eating.  When I get home, I will be able to save that second half of my meal or share it with Joe, which will be awesome.  (We can't bring food back to GM for obvious reasons.)

Before we even got to the restaurant, the four of us decided that we would get desserts so we wouldn't feel deprived.  We knew it was going to be a challenge.  I ordered cheesecake with strawberries.  You have never seen a table of women eat so mindfully in your life.  Each bite was savored.  We were taught in class that about after 4-5 bites of something, your taste buds stop tasting your food.  This is a queue to stop eating it.  So we really tried to pay attention to this and I actually noticed it!  About 5 bites in, my cheesecake wasn't as good anymore!  So I stopped eating it.  Can you imagine!  It felt amazing to push it aside and say, "I am done eating.  I am full and satisfied."

The four of us then gave each other big high fives because we really felt amazing.  Eating out was a scary thing to think about yesterday and today it feels possible.  We were all thankful we decided to do this together so we could support and talk each other through it.  During the meal I think we all expressed self doubt, guilt, or concern and it was great to talk it out.  We passed our first Real World Eating Like a Normal Person Experience!

Tomorrow will be another easy going day.  I am supposed to get a new roommate.  All of the people who were hear for the Health Professionals week have left (21 people in total left today).  So there are only about 8 of us still here and only about 8 are arriving.  I am looking forward to the small classes again for next week!