Yesterday was another easy day and I can’t quite pinpoint why. Easy?
Easy as in not stomach hungry except at normal, predictable times, and not emotionally hungry at all really. One thought is that it might be the exercise effect as mentioned yesterday. The other possibility is that I’m having a hormonally neutral month – or maybe all this walking & running is just levelling out the effects of hormones. The next two weeks will tell!
I’m getting in the swing of thinking ahead about meals. Moi? Planning? Who’d have thought.
Now this may unravel as I switch countries again in August but I’m enjoying having a whole week of breakfasts and lunches planned and pretty much devoid of choice. This week, I will eat all of the following between 7 am and about 4 pm, spread out any way that fits with both my appetite and my schedule:
- coffee (first things first!)
- porridge with yogourt (blueberries if I want)
- 2 ryvitas with marmalade
- 2 or 3 mugs of tea
- cottage cheese – usually plain – this has never been “diet” food for me, just like it that way.
- 2 more ryvitas – usually spread with the plain cottage cheese
- carrots or peppers or fruit as available
I will add more food if I’ve done a 4 or 5 mile walk/run, usually a banana with peanut butter.
It’s taken me a long time to understand the benefit of 6 small meals rather than 3 large ones but I’ve finally figured out how to make grazing work for me. To fit our preferred lifestyle, I eat about 4 times during the day then have a good sized evening meal with a glass of wine. Eating normally with loved ones after a day of work is too important to sacrfice for the sake of weight loss. We usually eat between 7 and 8 and, except for a cup of tea, that’s it for the day.
This has just highlighted something for me: we don’t snack in the evening anymore. In fact, on Saturday we decided to pick up something for watching football and then forgot to do it and I didn’t even notice until just now – Monday morning. Strange indeed.
I’m guessing that this is one of the positive sides of empty nesting- nil junk food- but still, it’s amazing to me that this could just disappear after a lifetime of needing something to nibble while watching television.
I suppose my biggest lesson learned over the past two years is that I can change – even habits that have been entrenched for years and years.
Now, if I could just make exercise an easy habit rather than a daily challenge……..
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