If you skimmed every article in every magazine and website homepage about how to eat to get healthy, you’d likely be swimmy headed from following all the 180’s the experts claim. Take the incredible edible egg, for example. One month it’s the very worst thing you could possibly eat, then the next, eggs are way healthy and you should enjoy them daily. Dairy has also confused the experts. You aren’t sure if it’s ok to drink milk, are you? (Absolutely!)
There is, however, one piece of advice that just won’t go away. That’s because it is nutritionally sound, as long as you read the fine print, which most of us typically don’t bother with. We’re busy; we read the bullet points in bold font and move on, learning maybe half of the story.
It’s true that in order for our bodies to perform optimally, we should eat 5-6 smaller* meals a day and forgo our 3 square meals. (A previous blog added breakfast. You ARE eating breakfast, right?) The asterisk here though should boldly point to this: SMALLER THAN WHAT? Isn’t this just a dangerous exercise in relativity unless someone QUANTIFIES smaller*?
It’s been my experience that the cons to this rule far outweigh the pros. Most people interpret this as license to virtually double the amount of food they eat. So instead of 3 times daily, they get 6! Wow!! Ummm, no.
I had a client once who bragged that she was doing 6 minis, but was puzzled that she had actually gained weight. When I looked over her food journal, it was clear…this isn’t rocket science friends….the intent is to take 3 meals and spread them out over 6. Instead, she just added her usual intake to mid morning, mid afternoon, then ended the day with a late night snack. So I tweaked her portions. The next week, she whined that one reason it wasn’t working for her was because when she went out with family or friends, they “got” to eat more than she did, and it was “torture” sitting there watching them eat. (Does this sound crazy or can you relate?) Gosh a’mighty, so many things to say here, but I’m going to stick to the science of it. Maybe we’ll get into the head games another time.
I won’t argue that your metabolism DOES run better with a steady stream of energy, fueled in small batches. Has it worked for anyone out there? If so, will you share your story? (And you celebrities who have a personal chef fixing and plating your minis don’t count.)
Here’s your habit to break for today, and it’s a doozie. Stop eating between meals.
Stop snacking. Stop with the bites of this or that. You’ve already stopped the cokes, right? Train your brain that don’t actually “get” a snack. You might be hungry when you stop, but guess what! Hunger will NOT kill you. (When did we get so scared of hunger?) If gnoshing is such a habit, chances are it’s mindless. (Have you ever found yourself eating something one day and honestly couldn’t remember how or why it ended up in your mouth?) No more. It’s time to be mindFUL. When you do sit down to a meal, after breaking your snack habit, you’ll be so ready for it that you’ll be tempted to wolf down your food. We’ve already covered that bad habit in a past blog so set your watch for 20 minutes and take your time.
And another thing: let’s revisit your food journal for a sec. Are you looking over it? Are you learning anything from it? Did you stop using it altogether after the burst of enthusiasm wore off? Big mistake. Huge. If you haven’t given that up, now’s the time to read back and have a few “aha” moments. Are you writing down your snacks? What will you be eliminating if/when you stop eating between meals? Carrot sticks or brownie bites?
By the way, if you have a smart phone with downloadable apps, my friend Barbara shared a great free find today if you’re having a hard time remembering your food log. It’s called MyNetDiary and it’s handy, handy. I’m especially interested (and shocked) by the sodium totals….Geez. But sodium totals are perhaps the least of your worries, and I’ll save that for another blog. For now, quit eating between meals.
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