"Eating when you are hungry is the starting point for a healthy relationship with food..... but the reality is that we are so out of touch with our bodies that many of us no longer know how to read the cues."
It was interesting that this principle should fall on a Friday because I always have issues with Friday mornings. I am very rarely hungry in the morning before leaving for school. But on a Friday, I go to a dance class at 9.30am and I am usually hungry just in time for it to be too late to eat. Then I get unreasonably hungry by the end of the class. So, how did today go?
I didn't get hungry until 9am, as usual, so I chose to have the remainder of yesterday's banana to tide me over. By the end of the class, I wasn't really hungry so all was well. I went to a friend's house and we had lunch at midday. She loaded my plate as her daughter was asleep on my lap, and that hasn't happened for a while. When she put the plate down, I assumed that was for both of us to eat from, but it was just for me. In the event, I was hungry and I ate some garlic bread, lots of green salad and a slice or two of ham. I wanted to eat the last piece of garlic bread on my plate as I still felt a bit of hunger, but I knew there was cake for pudding so I left the bread. The cake was ace.
When we got home from school, I was hungry. My DD3 wanted to make mud cakes (batter-style cakes half-cooked so still raw in the middle) before we had tea and I concurred as I was hungry for them too. I had two with extra thick double cream and then when I made fish fingers for them later, I wasn't hungry. I crocheted through their teatime. In the end, I succumbed to a fish finger while wandering around the kitchen and then felt full. I don't like that feeling.
The girls had supper at 8pm and I wanted to eat. But, I wasn't hungry so I didn't. I was annoyed by not being hungry, though. Maybe if I hadn't had that fish finger....
By 9pm I was ready to eat, but was I hungry? I can't be sure but I had grown impatient. I had the leftover fish fingers cold with tartare sauce and some salad. Then another mud cake with cream. Delicious. In bed now at 10pm and feeling pleasantly settled but not full.
So, what have I found out?
- having half a banana within 30 minutes of my dance class causes no problems and helps me to get through the class without being too hungry.
- I get frustrated when I want to eat but have no hunger. Habit and social tradition tells me to eat, but my body says not to. Crochet and knitting helps - I couldn't just sit at the table and watch them eat. At least this way I am productive during the mealtime.
- If I eat when I am not hungry, it will be longer until I am hungry again and I won't have enjoyed the food as much as if I had waited.
It's been a good day, as I've found a way around the dance class issue and cemented my habit of not eating at the kids' tea time if I am not hungry.
Tomorrow is going to be a challenge: I am leaving home at 6am to travel to a forum in Birmingham, and returning around 9pm. Everything I eat between those times will be decided by what the organisers provide and what I can take in my handbag. Hence, working on "Eat whatever you want" is probably not a good idea. The following principle is "Put it on a plate, sit down and focus on it". As I will be networking throughout my lunch, I think there is little to be gained from this either. So, I will jump two and think about "Stop when you are satisfied". With free hotel food, this could be quite tricky and good to notice where I do well and where I don't.
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