It's About Hunger!

This post is short and sweet! Eat when you're truly hungry and stop when you're satisfied. There. I'm done.




:)
Ever eaten because you're bored, stressed, sad, depressed? Or eaten just because? Just because you're at the movies? Just because your friends have asked you out? Or just because you smelled it?


Were you really hungry when you ate at those times?
If not - guess what?


You didn't need those calories and so your body stored them as fat = weight gain. Stinks, huh?


On the flip side - have you eaten when you were hungry, but ate SO FAST that you ate beyond the point of satisfaction? The kind of "full" where you physically feel uncomfortable? Maybe even, on occassion, like Thanksgiving?
Guess what?


If so, your body didn't need those extra calories and it stored them as fat = weight gain.


The biggest question I've heard to date is: "How can I lose weight?" And this is it:


1. Recognize true hunger. A lack of energy, stomach growling, maybe feeling irritable, for some a headache. Hunger should have symptoms from BELOW the neck :) Hunger DOES NOT occur suddenly. It approaches gradually and doesn't occur again until 3-4 hours after the previous meal.


2. Recognize any OTHER reason you may be eating (mentioned previously). For some reason, when out brain sends out an emotion like boredom, stress, etc.. we think it's a hunger cue!?! Guess what? That's not the response our brain wanted for that signal..so, that signal will be sent out again! If we eat because of these emotions (and we're not truly hungry) we don't need the calories = weight gain. We also tend to overeat during these times, right? Find ways to relieve boredom, relieve stress, etc before reaching for food and you may find that you don't need the food :)


3. Once 1 & 2 are done. Practice it with every bite that goes in your mouth. If you truly follow it, you will reduce the amount of food you consume = less calories consumed = weight loss.


4. Recognize true satisfaction. A point after a meal where you feel you have consumed enough food to last you a couple of hours. Satisfaction is NOT a state where our bellies are tight, our pants are suddenly uncomfortable, we are physically uncomfortable, even feeling the need for a nap. We have access to food 24/7...you do not need to eat an abundance of food in once sitting. It takes 20 minutes for your brain to tell you that you are satisfied. Do you take at least 20 minutes to eat your meal? Or do you eat it faster than that? If so, how do you feel?
If you do this - you will most likely have food left on your plate!! Less food eaten = less calories consumed = weight loss!


5. Combine steps 1 & 2 with step 4 and you will see results!


Sounds easy enough ;) Not really...this takes practice, but you can do it!!!!

Breakfast, Lunch & Snack = $4

My first post isn't anything grand - just a good starting post to show everyone how my family shops. We try to be frugal with our food purchases because we know we could easily spend hundreds of dollars, each week, on food. But, we've made it a goal to shop once a week and not spend over $100 to feed our family of 4 each week. I'm not going to fib - it's hard - but it's do-able! Here's my proof:


For breakfast, I usually eat fruit, protein, and grain of some kind. This morning I had a Morningstar egg, sausage and cheese biscuit with canteloupe. The cantelope was on sale for $.99 and the Morningstar was on sale for $3. There are 3 biscuits in a box - so, that's a good deal. I mean, we spend $1 on a biscuit at McDonald's right?? So my breakfast came out to be ~$1.25.

Meals around our house need to be easy to prepare. Having 2 kids under 2 means both parents are busy doing something, so if I'm slaving over a stove - Daddy has his hands full. That's why I love the steamer bags!! Our lunch consisted of a steamer bag of pasta/sauce/veggies for $1 and a pouch of salmon for $1. Nice.

Snack times can be dangerous. If I let my hunger get beyond the control point, I will literally eat until I'm sick. So, it's good to have healthy snacks on hand. We rarely buy junk food. Not because I'm a health-nut dietitian but because if we buy it, it's the first thing we eat! My husband claims it's because we can't afford it...haha, good excuse! But, after budgeting our healthy foods the way that we have...he may be right! One of my snacks consists of graham crackers and peanut butter! The whole box of graham crackers was $1.97 and this specific peanut butter was on sale for $1.50. I chose this PB b/c it's trans-fat free! How do I know?!? Because "hydrogenated oil" isn't listed as an ingredient on the label! Take a look at your peanut butter and see if there are trans fats in there ;)

All-in-all, breakfast, lunch and snack costs about $4 or so! Now, this may not be the case everyday but it IS possible to eat healthy without spending too much money. It just takes mental effort and good decision making! What are some cheap ways you and your family eat healthy?