“Only eat what your body requires, and don’t become carried away with foods that don’t benefit you.” – BRUCE LEE
“If you still have a slight sensation of hunger after a meal – you have eaten well. If you feel full – you have poisoned yourself.” – Hippocrates of Cos
“We should eat only when our mouths spontaneously salivate, as it is the body’s intelligence telling us that we are truly hungry. If not, we are force-feeding ourselves and disease will surely follow.” – B.K.S. Iyengar
The quotes above are sound advice. But what do you do if, like me, you’re a junk food addict and find your mouth salivating every time you see a tempting food commercial? Besides trying to turn a hoe into a housewife, controlling your palette is probably one of the hardest things to do (well, for me it is). Trust me, when it comes to food, I don’t just eat to live, I literally LIVE to eat! I often find myself eating so much in one sitting that I sometimes have to unbuckle my belt afterwards. Hey…. what can I say… I love my food.
I’ve noticed that I personally eat to excess due to boredom. Half of the time I’m not even hungry. I don’t know why, but I just find myself snacking on a bag of potato chips or candy bar whenever I’m sat in front of my computer or watching TV. To me, food is kind of like a drug and I’m constantly in need of a fix. Luckily for me I hardly ever put on any weight (hey, don’t hate me cause of my superior metabolism
). However, I must admit, I do feel quite sluggish and tired after consuming all those empty calories. As they say, “you are what you eat!”
So what’s the solution?
Here’s my opinion on diets: they don’t work. I know most people get in to them with the best intentions. But, realistically, it’s impossible to go cold turkey and completely cut out junk food from your life. If you can, then I take my pimp hat off to you. However, for us mere mortals that’s just not very realistic. So how do we solve this problem? Well, here’s what I do:
From Monday to Friday I try to eat as healthily as I can. Then on the weekends I cut loose and eat and drink whatever the hell I want. I literally pig out and eat so much junk food in those two days, that I reach a point where I never want to see another potato chip or slice of pizza again. Then when it hits Monday, it’s back to eating healthily again. I find this method works really well for me. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes for you.
The benefits of healthy eating
When you spend the majority of your time eating well, you’re giving your body the right fuel it needs to perform at its peak. You’ll sleep better, heal faster, and generally feel more energetic.
Anyway, I leave you with some additional nutrition tips that you can incorporate into your life. Don’t feel that you’ve got to follow them all. Just experiment with a couple and make a note of how you feel at the end of the week.
Additional Nutrition tips
- No snacking. Wait 3-4 hours between meals for full digestion. (I find this one the hardest rule not to break)
- When eating cooked foods, there are a few treats you can include to give more variety such as: raw nuts (pecans, cashew, almonds, walnuts), avocado and the different brans (rice, oat, wheat). Avocado/cashews (or any other high protein nut), can be considered an adequate substitute for meats, fish and eggs.
- Drink fruit juice or water with meals instead of fizzy soft drinks or alchohol.
- Base meals around high carb foods such as: potatoes, pasta, rice, bread. Cut back on fats.
- Try to cut back on desserts. It impedes the absorption of the nutrients in your meal.
- Try to cut back on processed foods.
