EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT

Do you ever have one of those days where you just want to eat and eat?  I am having one of those days today. This led me to several thoughts.

My first thought was what to eat. In the past I would have grabbed a BAG of cheese puffs...and eaten the whole bag. I sure don't want to do that!  Or, I would drive through and grab a six piece nugget, or twelve piece, maybe some fries.  Or, even better a 10 piece spicey wing at KFC.  GAG!  All of this sounds yucky!

So, back to what to eat: if you are having one of those days, listen to your body.  But, eat in small amounts.  I had a meeting today and I packed low sodium ham and brie for lunch with left over chipotle sweet potato fries.  I had a small container of red grapefruit, turkey jerky and a P90X recovery shake for snakes.  I like the P90X recovery shake when I am sore from a workout as it seems to help me mend! I got home and still felt like I could eat everything in the house!  So, I resorted to eating a bite of this and a bite of that.  Everything I took a bite of (low sodium ham, cashew bites, 100 calorie pack of baked cheetoes) I ate slowly.  Then, I waited at least 30 minutes to decide if I needed something else. 

Note two things:  1) I did not eat GARBAGE foods.  I tried to eat foods high in nutrients and with some nutritional value (with maybe exception of cheetoes which at least still have some protein).  2) I WAITED between snacks.  You have to ensure you are giving yourself worthwhile foods and you have to allow your body time to decide if it is full or has received what it needed. 

Normally the "EAT" days are on days when I have had a particularly hard workout.  But, I am finding that sometimes this day will FOLLOW a particularly hard workout.  I pushed myself (or Brian pushed me) yesterday morning when I worked back and chest.  And, I AM CERTAINLY FEELING IT! I am holding off on the more high impact lower body workouts due to my calf challenges.  I will get at least a workout in every other day!  This is still more than I was doing four weeks ago.

The second profound thought was more of a recall of a conversation with my Beach Body Coach Andi (getfitwithandi.com).  We were talking Sunday morning about meal tracking.  And she said something very profound, but amazingly obvious.  We need to evaluate why we are eating every bite of food we put in our body.  Is it because you are hungry?  Or, are you having a food therapy moment?

We've may have all heard the saying: "Do you live to eat or eat to live?".  I can honestly say that up until a few weeks ago I lived to eat, because eating was my therapy. Not that I actually looked forward to eating, I just ate all the time; and made very poor food choices.  I have chosen to change my thinking to a more "eat to live" mentality.  I want to eat the appropriate amount of calories for my body which is no less than 1800.  And, I want to take in no more than what I need, no more than 2000.  I want to feed my body nutrient rich foods that are necessary for me to live.  This is one of the reasons I choose Shakeology as a meal replacement.  It is NUTRIENT RICH!

Eating to live does not mean I have to eat bland foods or foods that have no taste. We are learning to eat foods that taste great but just eating less of them.  Or, finding foods that have flavor that are healthy.  I think for too long we have associated "healthy eating" with "tastes bad."  I challenge all of you to get in the kitchen and to prepare a meal that will be less than 300-400 calories.  This meal should have color: red, green, orange.  And, it should be a balanced meal of protein, vegetables and a processable grain or other fibrous carbohydrate. 

Tonight, we are taking it easy.  We will have a piece of wheat toast with a slice of pan fried low sodium ham and eggs.  Or, some of us may choose to have a piece of toast with one slice of cheese and eggs.  Either way, it will not exceed 300-400 calories! And, as my sister well knows, it is my favorite meal of the day:  BREAKFAST!  (And, it doesn't matter what time I have it!)

So, don't be afraid to eat.  Just know what you are eating and why you are eating it.