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When They Tell You When to Eat

  1. chemit1 says:

    I’m the same way, during the week I eat 4 or 5 times a day usually. On the weekend I sleep in a lot and my first meal is usually a lot bigger and a combination of breakfast and lunch, then I eat supper later and sometimes a snack before bed…. its actually a lot easier to just eat when hungry and stop when full then try to plan out 6 small meals or 3 big meals and 2 snacks or whatever. Another things that gets to me is the question “what should I eat after I work out? A protein shake? Complex carbs? Ice cream? A banana? Or should I have an apple instead of a banana?”…. I don’t know! It depends how hungry you are and what you feel like eating. Great Post!

    • GlenysO says:

      Yep – I wish work was more “intuitive working!” I’d show up at around 10 am with a nice belly full of food and probably not eat again until 3! Someday, someday! Also, your comment reminded me of one of the reasons I am just not interested in being a sports dietitian (besides not being good at or interested in any sports, haha): people want to know exactly what to eat after working, etc. I’m with you: just eat what you feel like and as much as you feel you need! Who knows better than the stomach!?

  2. Juliana says:

    i agree with you. however, even though i’m much more mindful about hunger and my emotions around food, i find it comforting to have some sort of ‘general advice’ about when to eat (not dictated by others, but something that usually works for me). this is because sometimes i think i’m not hungry but then have dinner and realize i was starving, and that makes me eat fast and therefore too much. i don’t like it. so i set some general rule that i’ll have a snack genereally 3h30 or 4 hours after main meals (i don’t have breakfast cause i wake up late).
    usually that works fine for me, and the ‘rule’ helps me to organize myself. but it’s important not to make this advice a mandatory one – if you are truly hungry. just eat and see what happens later!

    • GlenysO says:

      I totally agree with you – sometimes our own guidelines help us to be mindful! One thing I do is plan my meals ahead of time, even though there is this sort of stigma around planning meals ahead of time when eating intuitively because we do so much planning when dieting. However, I get very anxious when I don’t know what I’m going to eat, more from early experiences with food insecurity around meal-planning than from my dieting days. I can look forward to the meal and then eat it intuitively. So everyone develops their own guidelines around eating that they know work for them. I always like to have the option of a snack, and if I’m not hungry then I don’t have to eat it.

  3. This research goes to show that no way if eating is a “one-size-fits-all.” I’ll admit sometimes I read an article and think, “Maybe I should be eating less/more, between X amount of hours, etc., etc.” However, mindful eating has helped immensely. My “typical” day is filled with 3 meals and 2/3 snacks, but I’m becoming much more in-tune with my body and flexible. Some days, I might be constantly snacking, whether because of a weird schedule or I just feel hungry all the time. Other days, I find myself wondering how dinner came around and I haven’t had anything since lunch. Our ways of eating should not be static. They depend on so many factors. Great post.

  4. mywordnz says:

    Unfortunately there are so many self professed guru’s armed with ‘ideas’ wrapped up like facts that force feed desperate, fearful mortal humans. And they gobble it all up…(see, I like the puns too!)

    • GlenysO says:

      Food puns are super awesome! Yes, too many of these people out there selling the Fantasy of Being Thin and “immortality.” Newflash: None of us is getting out of this alive! LOL

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