Portion control is hard for me even when I’m eating things like  Simple Mediterranean Chicken let alone pizza parties or potlucks. There is something in me when I eat that says, “This feels good.  So more must feel better.”  I don’t think there is a hard and fast answer to this struggle.  Ultimately it comes down to that elusive slippery little thing called “will-power”.  Reminding myself that food is meant to fuel and nourish my body for my daily activities helps.  Reminding myself how wonderful it feels to be lean helps too.  But food is good and it feels good to eat it so it’s easy to go a little insane with it and “forget” all your good intentions.

Here are some tips I follow to silence the siren, i.e., reduce the cravings that will follow.

1. Eat protein and fat with each meal.  Especially protein.  I find my cravings are worse when I sit down and eat a bowl of chips and salsa than if I had eaten some nachos with chicken.

2. Don’t sit down to a sane meal hungry.   When I do this, WITHOUT FAIL, I will eat 10 times what I’d normally eat.  The more I overeat the more cravings I have the next day.  It’s the mental battle again.  If some taste good more must taste better.

3. Write down your cravings through the week.  This helps me tremendously.  If I want King Hawaiian bread I write it down.  If I want an oversized stuffed burrito I write it down.  I can have those things but not until my scheduled sane meal/day.  This works especially well if you do sane days but it can work for meals too.  Often I find that my sane meals rolls around and I no longer want that Mexican pizza from Taco Bell.

4. Have healthy foods on hand that you really enjoy that feel more like a treat.  I make this dip a lot because it tastes more decadent than it really is.  Granted I would prefer it with crackers but my waist line prefers it with bell peppers.  Funny thing is I’ve learned that I really do like the healthy alternatives.  They (the alternatives) are out there but it takes a little experimenting and research to find things that suit your taste.

5. Gum.  This works for me time and time again.  Sometimes I chew 3 or 4 pieces at a time just to keep my mouth busy.  Seriously.  Usually by the time the flavor runs out the craving is gone or my jaw is so sore that I don’t want anything in my mouth.

6. And finally, sometimes I just have to sit on my hands and chew through my lip.  I’m one of those people who get intense cravings.  Seriously I break out into a sweat and start foaming at the mouth at the thought of eating a pizza with extra cheese. There is this “I want it so I must have it” mentality in our culture, hence, the housing crisis.  (No judgements, believe me, I’m just as guilty as the next person.) There is really nothing wrong with being uncomfortable when it comes to resisting urges and wants including cravings for food.  Sometimes I choose to experience some “discomfort” as I deny my urge to eat a bag of bagels.  I know this is not what most people want to hear but the truth of the matter is there is not an easy fix.  If there was we wouldn’t be facing the health crisis we are facing today in America.

But despite my best effort sometimes I fail.  I have days I just “blow it”.  I go out to eat fully intending to order the seared ahi and unsweetened ice tea but instead order the fish-n-chips with extra tarter sauce and a beer.   One of the things I subscribed to is a NO GUILT policy.   I didn’t say no consquence policy but I don’t allow myself to wallow in guilt.  At least not for long.  It doesn’t do me or anyone around me any good.  If I blow it.  I blow it.   Time to pick up and learn.  If this happens I try to chalk it off as an unplanned sane meal.  Often but not always I will exchange this unplanned sane meal with a planned sane meal. This means that I may be just having chicken and salad at the bbq later in the week instead of the my friend’s amazing potato salad and deviled eggs.  It comes down to choices and goals.  What are your goals and what choices are you going to make to reach those goals???

I’m working on some cool little sane meal charts/planners that may be helpful for those of you who like to see things on paper and check things off.  As soon as I switch the site over to the new name I’ll post them for all to use.

xoxo
j

The post Sane Meals Part III – Silencing the Siren appeared first on Girl Heroes.

So when and how many sane meals a week should one take?  Sane meals?  Or sane days?

Like many other aspects of health and fitness there isn’t a one size fit all approach.  For instance, Body for Life recommends 1 sane day (which he calls free day) a week.   John Berardi creator of Precise Nutrition recommends 90% of your meals follows his guidelines (which are pretty basic) and allow 10% of your meals to be off plan.  This ends up being approximately 4 sane meals a week if you are eating 6 meals a day.  Or 3 meals a week if you are eating 5 meals a day.  Other people recommend one sane meal a week.

I think you have to find what works for you in the pursuit of your goals.  You may be trying to drop a few pounds or quite a few pounds.  You may be working on those last stubborn five vanity pounds your make may be working your way down to a “healthy” weight.  You may be training for a figure competition where every meals counts or you may be training for a sporting event where every meals counts in regards to performance but not appearance.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of the sane day approach especially if you struggle with binging.  I find it’s too easy to spiral out of control and I can “eat back” most or all of my hard work from the previous week in one single day.  Here is an example. You need a 3500 hundred calorie deficit to lose one pound of fat.  For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume that I know my body roughly needs 2000 calories a day to maintain my current body weight.  I decide I want to lose a half a pound a week through changes in my diet alone.  So starting Monday morning I cut 290 calories (3500 divided by 2 = 1750 calories. Divide 1750 by 6 = 292) out of my diet everyday for six days of week eating about 1708 a day.  I have a total deficit of 1752 (roughly half of 3500) calories for that week.  If nature is cooperating (water, hormones, minerals ect) then the scale should technically be down  half a pound on Sunday morning.  Sunday morning is my free day so I go to Ihop for breakfast and have a Colorado Omelette w/the side of pancakes.  Since I love Filet-o-Fish I decide to stop at McDonalds for lunch.  Fries?  Sure, it’s sane day.  Might as well supersize and grab a diet coke because I really want to make this day count.  That evening we decide to order pizza since I haven’t had any all week.  I eat 3 slices of pepperoni pizza and I’m stuffed.  But it’s my sane day so I better eat two more. I mindlessly eat 2 servings Cheetos while I watch a movie that night.  Yes I have had days where I eat just like this. Everything adds up to 3460 calories for the day and that is not including syrup on your pancakes, any snacks or ketchup on your fries (or in my case tartar sauce).  I also didn’t have any sort of dessert or candy which most people indulge on their sane day.  Afterall tomorrow is Monday, a new day.  Once I subtract the 2000 calories my body needs for the day I’m left with an extra 1460 for the day leaving me only a 290 weekly calorie deficit instead of the 1750 weekly deficit I need to lose that half of pound that week.  At this rate it’s going to take me six weeks to lose a half a pound.  No wonder people give up.   I know, these numbers aren’t entirely accurate numbers but they are really not that far off for your average 30 something 5’4″ girl who is trying to lose those last 10 pounds by exercising moderately 5-6x a week.  My point is to simply say sane meals do count.  At least to your body.  I could have saved 1010 calories by eating 1 pancake instead of two with my omelette, order a small fry, eating 3 pieces of pizza instead of 5, and only 1 serving of cheetos bringing me within 450 calories of my goal of 1750 calorie deficit.

So if you want to take sane days go ahead.  If you have a lot of weight to lose you they probably won’t affect your progress too much if at all because you can eat more and still lose.  But if you are like me either trying to stay lean or get a little leaner then be careful especially if you are prone to binging.   Staying sane on sane days for most people takes some effort.   Enjoy your food without guilt but don’t go crazy.  Learn go be satified with 1 dish or even one pint of ice cream if you must.  You don’t have to eat 1/2 gallon. Enjoy a few slices of pizza but not the whole pizza.  Because like it or not these calories count at least to your body they do. Your body is not going to say, “Oh that’s right. This is a sane meal so I won’t store these extra calories.”  No it’s going to say, “Yippeee.  I’ll survive the next famine!!!”  Enjoy your sane days but stay sane.

Sane meals have their own challenges.  Some people do better with a day because it’s one day and that’s it.  The line is drawn. Six other days on plan.  Period.  If this is you, great.  Stick with what works for you and your lifestyle.  Most of the time sane meals work better for me since I need the flexibility to fit my will power (or lack of).  I find that usually I don’t have all day events where there is a ridiculous amount of fun food but rather challenging occasions throughout the week.  So I schedule my free meals in accordance with my weekly plans.  Also, I clearly have binging issues so I find it easier to enjoy my fun food one meal at a time without the fear of spiraling out of control the rest of the day.  It also helps that my sane meals tend to be dinner.  Of course, a sane meal can become a binge if I let it and the previous example can work for 3 meals taken anytime during the week.  I don’t want to have an “insane sane meal”.  In other words, I work really hard on choosing to enjoy my lasagna but try to stop before I reach painfully full.  For me this takes effort.  A lot of effort.  More than I care to admit.  I rationalize my sanity away by saying things like,  “It’s a sane day I deserve it.” Not true.  Do I deserve to feel sick after I eat?  Do I deserve to have trouble sleeping?  Do I deserve to undo all my hard work from the day?  There is nothing wrong with enjoying 2 or 3 pieces of pizza for a sane meal but I don’t have to have an entire pizza.  At least that’s what I tell myself as sit on my hands in the booth staring at the greasy cheese.  Again, the truth of the matter is you can undo all your previous week’s work by having insane-out-of-control-sane-meals.  There’s one more reason worthy of mention as to why I prefer sane meals as opposed to days. Since I exercise in some fashion most days of the week I have a “boost” in will power for that day.  I tend to schedule sane days on rest days therefor I don’t have that little boost of motivation from my workout.  Again this is just me.  If you like taking entire days you could easily schedule your workout in for that day if that helps.

Obviously if you choose to take sane days it’s one day a week.  But what about sane meals?  How many can I take a week and still reach my goals?

Again there isn’t a one size fits all approach.  For me it depends of a few factors, my goals for the week, weekly plans, and overall goals.  Am I maintaining? Am I trying to lose?  How many and what sort of special occasions are on the calender?  Is it my birthday week?  Holidays?  I refer to this as “planned intuition”.  In other words, I plan my meals according to what I intuitively and honestly know will be strengths and weakness during the week.   If I know one week is full of bbq’s and parties (or vacation) then that week I may take 4 or 5 free meals and then only 1 or 2  or none the following week.  I’ve found on average I can take about 3-4 sane meals a week and not gain weight.  I can have about 2 sane meals a week and still lose weight assuming I indulge a little but not overindulge. On an average week I have one or two social occasions such parties, bbq’s, meetings, or dinner invitations.  If that’s the case, I will use my sane meals on those nights.  Sometimes we go out to eat to a resturant that has a menu item I love that fits into my everyday plan.  In that case, I don’t take a sane meal.

You have to find how many sane meals you can have to reach your goals.  Plan and track you sane meals on your calender. If you want try having a full day for a few weeks and see what happens.  If you are like me and find full days are too much then try 4 meals a week.  Still not seeing the progress then try 3 sane meals a week.  If you get down to two sane meals a week and are still not losing then it’s time to show yourself some tough love.   Take a hard and honest look at the rest of your week.  Are you not getting in your workouts?  Are you really eating on plan 90% of the time?  Are you “forgetting” about the little extras.  Here are a couple a posts that address other reasons why you may not be losing weight.  If you are working on those last 10 this may help.  Losing fat is really simple (burn more calories that you eat) it’s just hard to do and even harder to do it right.  (Fueling up with healthy food instead of low-cal junk or unsustainable extreme dieting.)  When it comes to weight loss I really believe slow and steady works the best and thankfully sane meals are a part of that strategy.

xoxo
j

The post Sane Meals Part II – When, how many, and how much? appeared first on Girl Heroes.

Many people use free meals, reward meals or cheat meals (or days) as a way to indulge in fun foods or enjoy Aunt Sally’s apple pie a la mode without guilt.  I use this strategy too but I don’t like to refer to them as free, rewards, or cheats.  The opposite  of free is imprisoned or enslaved.  Personally, I don’t want to look at my choice to eat healthy whole foods the rest of the week as a prison.  Something I am forced to do without choice.  It’s a choice and I do my best enjoy it.   On a more literal note,  free meals are rarely free most of the time I have to pay but that’s besides the point.  Reward meals don’t work for me.  I don’t think it’s a good idea to “reward” yourself for eating healthy with unhealthy. In my opinion, that doesn’t help create a positive association with healthy food.  It’s better to make the choice to just eat and enjoy an unhealthy meal simply because it tastes good not to reward yourself.  Cheat meals.  This is even worse.   It makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong and I struggle with guilt enough already.

So I call them Sane Meals.

Why?  Because knowing I can have a few sane meals in week keeps me from going crazy fighting temptations day in and day out.  I can’t eat perfect 100% of the time.  Actually maybe I could, given my choice to give up sugar, but even if I could I don’t want to because I enjoy pizza, fries and ranch, and chile relleno burritos too much to take them out of my life forever. Sugar was another matter because it controlled me.  While I loooove nachos they don’t control me in the same way although I might go crazy if I thought I was never going to get a bite of processed food again.  I might find the nearest McDonald’s and eat enough Filet-O-Fishes until I had a heart attack right there in the store.

Sane meals are great for keeping the insanity at bay.  Sane meals are great for throwing a curve ball at your  metabolism.  Sane meals are great as long as you control them and they don’t control you.

I think this issue is so important and so many people sabotage their hard work with unhealthy or unrealistic views of sane meals that I’m going to devote a few more posts to it this week.  So stayed tuned for  Sane Meals Part II – When and how much?  &  Sane Meals Part III – Silencing the Siren

Speaking of sane meals I took two this weekend, Taco Bell (Which honestly I don’t like all that much but my son really wanted it) on Friday night and McDonald’s on Saturday night.  I really do like their  Filet-O-“Fish”.  How embarrassing.

xoxo
jenn

The post Sane Meals Part I – A meaning for the madness. appeared first on Girl Heroes.