I’ve
learnt recently that:
1. I
should never leave to chance my meal plan. When I leave my meal plan to chance,
I invariably end up eating what is available rather than what is nutritious
[think meat pie, Philadelphia wrap… you know!)
2. That
my meal plan should be that… ‘a plan’. Some can, but I cannot afford to just up
and go for a meal when I ‘feel’ hungry. Again, this normally results in the
wrong thing being consumed; or me pigging it out when I am not really hungry;
or worse still… mindless eating.
So,
the other night as I reflected on what I have learnt about myself and my
relationship with food, I realized that I have to come up with a system to help
me stay on the straight and narrow. Systems don’t work for many people, but
they do for me – I am wired that way (did I hear someone say OCD? Well, only
slightly). It was Charlie ‘Tremendous’ Jones who said
that “everyone
has a success mechanism and a failure mechanism. The failure mechanism goes off
by itself. The success mechanism only goes off with a goal. Every time we write
down and talk about a goal we push the button to start the success mechanism.” So, this is my success mechanism.
So
about my system… you know how The Rotary Club has their 4 Way Test that serves
as their guiding principles? I thought up my own 3 questions which I hope will
guide me when I eat. Don’t laugh, but I have actually created cards with these
3 questions for my wallet, my office wall, my kitchen wall… literally
everywhere where I sit to think of, make or eat food. See what my wee poster looks out and check out
my ‘Questions Before I Eat’…
What
do you think?
I am simply asking myself to confirm:
a. Am I eating for hunger or boredom?
b. Am I eating to live or living to eat?
c. Am I eating the right things? This is in no way a standard, but working with my nutritionist, this is what she has recommended for me.
I
have not gotten to the point where I am 100% perfect with my choices (had a
couple of biscuits too many today – fluff not fuel), but I aim to keep at it
until making the right choice is second nature to me. Hopefully, this way I can
manage calories going in, and keep dropping it for life. Plus, these questions
should come in really handy when I am faced with food choices over the festive
period.
Time will tell how successful my system is, and how successful I am in keeping to it. Stay tuned for updates.
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I find that my biggest problem is timing, I eat right during the day but eat late at night *sigh*
ReplyDeleteI can relate with that Nana. Normally I have a 6pm cut off time from eating, but when I have had a really busy day and haven't eaten but now need to after 6pm, I go for things that aren't chock full of calories, and easier to digest... I've been known to have cucumber slices with some picked garlic (yes... a gals gotta do what a gals gotta do), sometimes just some fruit - apples, grapes etc. I always have these with a huge cup of tea, so I'm actually getting full on the liquid...
DeleteI like to sleep early so, what I eat at night is über important for me, if not I wake up sluggish. And if I eat anything oily I wake up with mega heartburn. But yes, it is a chore coming up with the right thing to eat after hours. So each of us has to find out what works, know your body and work with that...thanks for the comment though! You are in the running to...get a ped!
Nana and I are in the same boat. Having breakfast and skipping meals after 6pm is something I'm trying to work on. Spoke to a nutritionist last week who said I should do green tea in the morning and evenings. I started evening exercises on Wednesday and green tea therapy yest. I pray I can stick to it so I can drop it! (wink wink )
ReplyDeleteGreat read Liz! This is as simple as it can get. Well done. I've learnt a thing or two that I can emulate. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteLiz do you buy your fruits everyday? I also don't eat a lot of fruits so I was wondering how I could conveniently incorporate them in my daily meals.
ReplyDeleteHi Nana, I actually buy my fruits every Saturday (mainly from Farmers Market in Maitama, but also from other places too). There is so much you can do with fruit oh, I used to be like you... i could have like just 2 or 3 fruits in one whole year. Now, they are my 'thing'. You can juice, you can made salads, smoothies...eat alone as a snack or a main meal. I think you should just find which fruit works for you and start from there. If you look at my Jumpstart 2014 blog posts (Jan 2014) you will find many recipes for smoothies and juices that I shared. Alternatively, you know where to find me... I could just email you my Fruits Little Black Book... lol! *wink*
ReplyDeleteWow now my eyes are on the little black book hahaha. I will look through the post first for some ideas. Thanks
ReplyDeleteMy major challenge while eating is portion control. I will eat the right stuff but cant seem to control my portions. Was wondering if there's any food that doesn't require portion control?
ReplyDelete