I'm a creature of habit (in case you couldn't tell by what I eat for breakfast every day). That's not necessarily a bad thing, but when it comes to food quantity it may be.
I always eat breakfast as soon as I get up. But am I really hungry as soon as I get up, or is that just a habit? I always eat lunch right after the kids do, and I eat supper with my family. But are those the times my body really needs a meal? Snacks are nice, but am I eating them because I need them, or because I'm just in the mood to eat something? The new plan is to wait until my stomach actually growls before I eat anything. I won't push it for long, but I want to start eating only when I get that unmistakable signal until I get an idea of whether my body actually has a natural rhythm for when it needs to eat. Once I have a better idea of that, I can go back to being a creature of habit for a while.
In terms of my macronutrients, I want to try a little experiment involving cutting back my protein a little and upping my carbohydrates through more vegetables. I love meat, and I think I may be over-doing my portions a little. The other plan is to save my allowed fruit serving until the afternoon, whereas now I often eat it mid-morning then regret it by 3pm.
Day 9:
Breakfast - Two eggs scrambled with onions and sweet peppers. Coffee (half decaf).
Lunch - More pulled pork.
Supper - (Not proud of this) Two hot dogs (gluten-free and sugar-free) and a big salad with greens, tomatoes and cucumbers with a balsamic vinaigrette. I wouldn't have gone for the hot dogs except that Francis was out at soccer during supper and bed time, and I always turn into a big ol' whiner when I have to tackle that stretch of the day by myself.
Day 10:
Breakfast - Two eggs scrambled with sauteed onions served over cherry tomatoes with three slices of bacon. LOTS of coffee (half decaf), mostly because of my 5am wake-up call from Baby Belle.
Lunch - Giant salad with greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and pecans with (surprise!) the balsamic vinaigrette. Two slices of deli roast beef with a little mustard.
Supper - Bacon-wrapped chicken strips with a mountain of roasted broccoli.
Snacks - A small handful of macadamia nuts and two bananas. I actually forgot I'd already had one until I was two thirds of the way through the second one. Oops.
When I get up I immediately have a glass of tepid water with lemon juice as a chiropractor told me that this is a great habit to have in order to detox the liver. The catch is that one cannot eat for another half hour. So, I exercise or shower or get everyone's breakfast and the crew sent off to school or any combo of the above. By the time I eat breakfast it is usually more than an hour since I woke up. By that point I am truly hungry and really appreciate breakfast and make it easily until lunch.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'll definitely try that starting first thing tomorrow. I love lemon in my water, and I need incentive to increase my water consumption.
DeleteI have a little coffee when I wake up and then a breakfast a bit later. It holds me over until lunch :)
ReplyDeleteJEnnifer