Friday, February 26, 2010

One Fish, Two Fish…

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish   I still LOVE Dr. Suess.  I think everyone does.  It is one of the first books we are exposed to as kids.  Besides being fun, these books tap into the theory of how kids learn. Kids learn through their senses.  Watch a child as he is trying new things and where their interest lie.  They like bright colors and music.  They respond to an adults adoration and smiles or to their voice tone of dislike.  They are constantly playing with their fingers and toes and usually putting something in their mouths.

That is because it is appealing to the five senses of Touch, Hearing, Smells, Sight and Taste. The five senses are what build our memories and experiences.  Those five senses “trigger” memories and experiences.

Adult learning is based on our experiences.  Have you heard of experiential learning? That is because studies show that for adults to learn new things, they need to be able to put things into a perspective of something they already know.  To be able to “fit” it into a specific memory or experience to get that AHA moment.

I had fish for dinner last night.  While that seems like no big deal, it was HUGE for me.  Those that know me well are probably falling out of their chairs reading this.  I certainly am not known for my seafood dining experiences.  Well maybe SEE FOOD dining.

I tried tilapia fish.  It was baked in a garlic and herb bread crumb.  I did end up making a tartar sauce out of light mayo and relish but only used it every 3rd bite.  I did enjoy it and I will be adding that to my food palette.

I have a good friend who is helping me to learn about food.  She gives me spices and flavors to try.  We had a conversation recently that helped me tremendously.  She compared wine to food.  If you have never had wine, you wouldn’t start out with a robust red.  You start with a white wine.  Most people start out with a sweeter wine such as White Zinfandel or even Boone’s farm.  Because that is a taste they are use to.  You progress to trying different taste and often combine or “pair” a wine with food.

Now, I am not a wine drinker either, but I was able to take this analogy and form it into something that I do know and that gives me a “good” memory to fall back on.   My art.  A painter has a palette of colors that they use to create a painting.  A writer has a palette of words to create a story.  It is done in small steps to build something.  I can take blue and yellow, dab a little here, dab a lot there, and I create a green meadow.

So, while building a new taste, involving fish, I took a bite of the fish with the coating, a bite without the coating, and then a bite with the tartar sauce.  I am slowly building a new picture of eating fish.  One bite at a time.

Perhaps, that is why “dieting” doesn’t work.  As adults we want to see the results immediately or we just say it isn’t working for me.  We need to change the palette and that takes time.  Same goes for exercise.  We need to change the experience, but it needs to be done slowly, in order to create a new experience to reference later on in.

So today take a small moment to think about this.  Remember your favorite Dr. Seuss story.  Now, look at what you are eating or what exercises you are doing.  Build a new palette based on an experience that gave you joy and incorporate that into your food and exercise plan.

Let me know what you come up with.