So, without really trying today I reacquainted myself with what hungry feels like. I believe that one of the reasons I started to gain weight in the first place was that I did not properly identify hungry versus stressed/depressed. The two, for me, are located in the exact same spot: my stomach. The difference is how they feel.
I don't generally feel hungry until around 10am and while I have always heard that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" - and I get that it jump starts your metabolism into working off the calories it has stored up - I just don't like to eat before about 10. Today I decided that I was going to wait until my stomach was really telling me I was hungry before I was going to eat. And I ended up being HUNGRY at about 12:45.
There used to be a Thai restaurant across the street from my work. Lucky for me it has been replaced by a deli that serves salads and my favorite food in the world: sandwiches. Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE Thai food. And Indian food. And Lebanese food. I LOVE FOOD. But this deli makes salads that I can buy...and salads are (usually) made up of zero point foods. :)
So, I went over and got a Cobb Salad and they asked for what dressing I wanted so I got to pick a vinagrette. Evidently they were out of the packages so I got FRESH vinagrette. It was good. And not creamy high points Ranch. The salads are pre-packaged daily and (being a vegetarian) I picked off the bacon and chicken, but still got the tomatos, lettuce, black olives, blue cheese crumbles (YES! they were totally worth the points) and hard-boiled egg. I also got a vegetarian sandwich - home made whole wheat bread, shredded lettuce, avocado, tomato slices, red sweet peppers, cucumbers and cream cheese. No mayo. No cheese. But lemme tell ya. GOOD stuff. And 8 points. Yay!
So, then I waited to get the afternoon munchies that usually show up between 3 and 5pm....nope. Did just fine.
Tonight I pulled out a bag of vegetables for stir fry and I bought a bag of Quorn ("veggie" chicken stuff) and put some teriyaki sauce on it and am going to thoroughly enjoy it. When I went grocery shopping this weekend I bought some olive oil pan spray, WW recommends this and I know from experience that spraying gets more coverage but less actual calories than pouring. (Have you used those Salad Spritzers?? Totally effective and low calories.) I sprayed the pan with the olive oil and just threw the stuff in. Since it was frozen the water helped cook the veggies....less need for all the oil I usually pour on.
I am finding that I've been waking up earlier than usual for the last week. Don't know why but today it resulted in me having to wait for the shower and...10 minutes to try for those cat/cow poses and the yoga! I admit, I did not try the pretzel move. I just could not bring myself to give myself a charliehorse before I was fully awake. Corpse and child pose were very easy. hee hee
So, yeah. Hunger. I think that allowing myself to get hungry and then eat, instead of at the "regular" times, or because everyone else is eating is a VERY good step. I'm a joiner and boy howdy, if you're eating well I can too!
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
Awesome! Inspiring!
ReplyDeletethanks!!
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