Comments (15)

By Estela - Weekly Bite, January 18, 2010 10:06 am

Hi

Today we start week 3 of 12 Weeks No Diets!

To recap, here are the goals from the past two weeks.

Mindful Goals:

1. Eat when you’re hungry, Stop when you’re satisfied.
2. Identify any mindless eating routines you may have, think of a different activity to work on breaking those routines.

Nutrition Goals:

1. Drink at least 12 oz of water with each meal, and 8-12 oz of water between meals.
2. When hungry, at at least one piece of fruit per day, and include veggies in some form (preferably fresh) for two meals.

Week 3 Goals:

This week we’ll be focusing on meal timing and portion control. These two really go hand in hand.

Meal Timing

This can be so confusing. We’ve heard so many conflicting things. Eat six small meals per day, eat three meals and two snacks, don’t snack, don’t eat past 7 p.m., etc…. If we google “how many meals to eat per day” there will be tons of websites all with conflicting information. The bottom line is… it’s different for everyone. You have to do what works best for your body! You are responsible for setting your own rules. Some people work best eating many small meals per day, and others don’t. I know for me, three meals a day works with a snack or two when I’m hungry. I have friends that eat smaller portions several times per day, and that works for them. What I’m trying to say is don’t force something that doesn’t work. You have to listen to your body and eat when you’re hungry.

If you’re trying to follow a plan that makes you eat every 2-3 hours, but are never hungry, that could your bodies way of telling you not to eat. You want to feel a little hungry right before you eat. Not starving, but a comfortable hunger.

The body typically will ask for food every 3-5 hours depending on how big of a meal you ate last. I NEVER recommend going longer than 5 hours without eating. Keep an eye on the clock and be realistic. If you ate a cheeseburger and french fries and have the urge to eat again two hours later, that’s not real hunger. Be realistic. You know you just consumed a very high calorie meal, so you shouldn’t be feeling hungry. On the other hand, if you ate a smaller than normal breakfast and feel hunger 2.5-3 hours later, it makes sense to have a small snack to stretch yourself to lunch.

Portion Control

Watch your portions. This is a big one. The very first goal I set was “Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re satisfied.” Technically this should help us control our portions, but sometimes we need a little more help. When we cook for ourselves its relatively easy to serve ourselves the proper portion. I like to give the simple rule of using your hand as a tool. Protein should be the size and thickness of the palm of your hand. Carbs should be the size of your fist, fat should be the size of your thumb, and non starchy veggies are unlimited.

Portion control can be a little harder when we eat out. I’m a big fan of ordering what I really want. The key is to not eat it all. Always take your time when you eat. Only eat half of what’s served and take the rest home. Think about the “hand rule” and keep those portions in mind. If you’re going to a restaurant that has a dessert you love, order a light dish and split the dessert with your dinner mate, or, just order the dessert.

Goals for this week:

1. Meal timing – keep an eye on the clock. Never go longer than 5 hours without eating, and be sure to ask yourself “Am I truly hungry?” before eating.
2. Portion Control – use your hand to control your portion sizes. When eating out, make it a rule to order what you truly want, and eat only half of what’s served. Take the rest home of delicious leftovers.

Workout of the week:

Click here for Jessica’s No More Resolutions Workout!

No More Resolutions will run for 12 weeks along with No Diets in the New Year

There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts for everyone! My favorite thing about these workouts is that they can be done at home!

Comments (21)

By Estela - Weekly Bite, January 11, 2010 12:14 pm

Hi!

Today we start week two of 12 Weeks No Diets!

To recap, here were last weeks goals.

• Eat when we’re hungry, stop when we’re satisfied
• Drink at least 12 oz of water with each meal, and 8-12 oz between meals.

How did we do?

Like I mentioned in my last post, drinking water is pretty tough for me! I literally felt like I was constantly guzzling water. The first few days felt like work, but after a while I started to feel so much better! As far as eating when I’m hungry… I pretty much do this already, but this time I REALLY focused on it! Before I ate, or wanted to eat I asked myself “Am I REALLY hungry?” Sometimes the answer was yes, but other times it wasn’t. I had moments of boredom where I wanted to eat, but didn’t. I also had moments where those lovely “female hormones” kicked in and made think I wanted food. Boy was this hard work! As frustrating as it was, I waited it out and low and behold, my tummy eventually started growling, hunger pains kicked in, and before I knew it, it was time to eat! I have to say it felt almost like a victory!

Moving forward to this week, I wanted to focus on eating routines and fiber.

Mindful Tip #2

Break Mindless Eating Routines

Do you have any routines where you eat mindlessly? I had/have a couple. Sometimes I like to snack a little while working on the computer… like right now! I’m righting this post from a cute little bakery/coffee shop. There are people all around me working on their computers, sipping coffee, and eating. I smell the yummy quiche that the women sitting next to me is eating, I smell the warm cinnamon roll that the man across from me is eating. I am not the least bit hungry at all… not even a tingle of hunger… but I feel like I should order something because a) I’m working on the computer, and b) because everyone else around me is eating.

Another mindless eating routine I did/do is eating as soon as I get home from work. For the longest time the first thing I would do when getting home from work was eat. I would pull my car into the driveway, get the mail from the mail box, let Shiner (my dog) out, and sift through the mail while eating either pretzels or pita chips. Majority of the time I wasn’t even hungry.

Breaking mindless eating routines takes some time. I had to take a look at my day and identify the routines where I ate mindlessly. Then I had to work on them. I did this my focusing on breaking my routines. It took a conscious effort, but over time, I developed new routines.

Nutrition Tip #2

Eat your Fiber!!

Fiber is good for us. Fiber helps makes us feel full. Fiber comes in the form of whole grains, fruits, and veggies. The daily fiber requirement for women is 25 grams, and for men it’s about 40 grams. Instead of trying to count fiber grams, just try to make better choices. I like to choose bread that has at least 4 grams of fiber per slice. As far as fruits and veggies go, I REALLY need to work on this!!! I don’t know why this is so hard for me, but it is. I can manage to eat a salad most days to get my veggies in, but other than that, I need work. I don’t know why, but when I’m hungry, I rarely go for fruits or veggies.

Goal for this week:

1. Try to identify any mindless eating routines, think of a different behavior/activity to work on changing those routines
2. When hungry, at at least one piece of fruit per day, and include veggies in some form (preferably fresh) for two meals.
   

WORKOUT OF THE WEEK

Click here for Jessica’s No More Resolutions Workout!

No More Resolutions will run for 12 weeks along with No Diets in the New Year

There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts for everyone! My favorite thing about these workouts is that they can be done at home!

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Do you have any questions?

I’m happy to answer any questions you may have. I started a “12 Weeks No Diets” page. Every Mondays post/tip will be on that page.

If you have any workout specific questions, go to Jessica’s Blog at How Sweet It Is.