Don't Let Yourself Get Too Hungry

by Tristi Pinkston | More from this Blogger

06 Sep 2008 05:00 PM

We're trying to lose weight. We're not supposed to be thinking about food all the time. We're trying to push the thoughts of food out of our minds and make it less of a priority on our radar screens. But when we do this, we run the risk of not feeding ourselves enough.

That seems like a contradiction of our goals. Isn't cutting back on food the aim here? Isn't it good to forget about eating?

Yes and no.

We should turn our attention away from food at times of stress, boredom, and emotional overload. It's good to ignore food that's fried, dripping with cheese and grease, or heavily sugared.

But we need to pay attention to food several times a day to maintain our health.

I pose the question: When are you most likely to make good food choices? When you're starving and in a rush, or when you have the time to think it over?

Speaking for myself, when I'm in a hurry and my blood sugar is dropping, I grab whatever's closest. If I'm out running errands and have been away from home for hours and all my healthy snacks are miles away, I'm going to pull into a fast-food drive-through. My system is such that if I don't eat when I get hungry, I will start to feel lightheaded and eventually dry-heave. If there's a Wendy's nearby when that blood sugar drops, I'm next in line.

When I'm at home and I have the time to create a meal, I do head more for the produce and grains. I know I have the time to cook them, that I'm not going to pass out before I eat.

Here are some suggestions:

On days when you do have a little more time, fill some plastic containers with chopped vegetables and cheese slices so you can reach in and grab one on your way out the door. You can munch while you drive and keep the blood sugar stable while you're running errands.

Following this same idea, on days when you have more time, make twice as much dinner and freeze the other half to use on a day when you're in a rush.

Take just five minutes before you leave the house to grab something to eat, then sit down and eat it. You can scramble an egg in the microwave by beating it in a bowl and then cooking it for about a minute to a minute and a half, throw it in a tortilla and there you have a breakfast burrito in under two minutes. The grocery store and the bank will still be there in two minutes, won't they?

If you're at the store and you feel that blood sugar start to crash, grab a banana. The sugar and potassium in the banana will help you make it back up.

Yes, it's important that we not think about food every minute of every day. But we have to think about it often enough and consistently enough to keep ourselves from going into "food emergency" status, where we have to eat now or faint, and the only relief in sight is a drive-through.

Related Blogs:

Foods that Make You Feel Full: Fiber

Know the Hunger Scale

Ten Ways to Lose Weight Easily

(picture courtesy of Morguefile.)

Learn more about Tristi Pinkston

I've been a blogger for Families.com since August of 2006.

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medicineweight (10) 07 Sep 2008 09:35 PM

Ahhh... you are going to take the fun out of cooking. I personally love to barbeque so I can 'sample' the food as I am cooking :)

Tristi Pinkston (10839) 07 Sep 2008 09:57 PM

Oh, I totally believe in "sampling." It's just a matter of knowing when to stop!