I am currently blogging from the sky on my way to the Healthy Living Summit!
Luckily Melissa is on the same flight and we snagged seats across the aisle from each other. Neither one of us went to HLS last year so were not exactly sure what to expect. I’m just excited to have a couple days of fun since my life has been all work and packing and un-organization lately!
I hate having to sit in one place for an extended period (hence my Park Ranger job search) so I made sure to get in a run this morning. I did 6 miles and then came home to a SIAB = Smoothie in a Bowl.
In the mix: Protein powder, ice, spinach, frozen blubes, chia seeds, maca powder and water. Plus some chocolate almond butter on the spoon!
I topped it with chopped up Carrot Cake Muffin and cereal, but this smoothie wasn’t very thick and my toppings sunk!
I just started to get hungry on the flight and my first thought was, “What time is it?”. I think I wanted to know if it was a “proper” time to eat lunch yet.
But, I am trying to become an intuitive eater and my first reaction should be to my body NOT the clock. This situation pointed out that I often look at the clock when I’m hungry and/or check the clock around times that I think I should be hungry to decided whether or not to eat.
- I sometimes eat at noon because I’m supposed to – even if I’m not hungry. I think “Lunch time” and “Dinner time” are kind of set for me and I eat because “it’s time” without reading my hunger first.
- And I also snack around 5pm when I am hungry but think I should wait to “officially eat”. You know, because snacking while standing in the kitchen doesn’t count as “officially eating”. Right?
I think it is especially important for me to listen to my body right now as I’m training for a race in October. I think it’s vital while training to listen to your body to tell you what you need – be it food, rest, stretching or anything else your body is signaling.
Anyways, I can’t tell what time it is because my phone is OFF on the flight. This means I have no choice but to eat according to my body’s needs and not worry about permission from the clock.
Luckily, I packed a yummy lunch to satisfy my hunger on the flight – AB&J, carrots and watermelon. This AB&J is on my fave Alpine Valley bread too. I had sandwich thins to use, but this bread is worth the cals. Love it.
I also snagged a bag of chips from the flight attendant for some late night snackage 🙂
Question: Do you eat according to the clock? Is lunch always at noon and dinner always at six o’clock?
I was just telling my friend that I often get hungry for “real food” around 5:30pm every day, but make myself wait until dinner time to eat a meal. I usually snack instead, but I think my body is telling me it wants something more.
I am going to work on going to my stomach and not the clock for when and what to eat 🙂
Tay says
I know I say it everytime you post about it but seriously: best. bread. eva. And really only 40 cals more than sandwich thins. Dang good. I try and go by hunger signals, but also by time. Like if I’m not hungry, but it’s been 5 hours since my last meal, I know I need to eat before my blood sugar drops too low. Or if I’m starving only 1 1/2-2 hours post a meal, I know something’s weird and I try to have small snack.
Laura says
Your so organized, packing snacks for the plane.
I usually eat at “Lunch” or “Dinner” time, my body is quite used to that now. I think you can sorta train yourself to eat at certain time. Maybe i’m just weird, who knows?
Amber K says
I would love to be able to eat dinner whenever so I wouldn’t have to worry about it, but I really, really, REALLY like waiting for my husband so we can eat together! The earliest he gets home though is 7pm, so I have to wait until at least then if I want us to eat together. So I do eat an extra snack that I wouldn’t otherwise to put it off.
But in general I’ll do that, I’ll think “hmm I think I feel hungry” and immediately check the clock. But I think it is because I pretty much can always eat. Even if I just ate if food is available, my stomach always seems to have room! So I have to watch myself and reminds myself that I’m not “really” hungry.
Beer and Burrito Body says
Eating two dinners use to be a problem for me. My family ate dinner really late because of my dad’s work schedule. In high school, or when I was home from college, I would get hungry around 5 or 6pm and start snacking until 7:30 or 8pm when we finally all sat down for dinner. I usually wasn’t hungry by that point, but that didn’t stop me from eating a little more.
I’m not really an intuitive eater, but now that I set my own schedule and recognize this snacking pit-fall, things are better 🙂
Sarah says
I’ve been purposely practicing intuitive eating (while reading Women, Food, and God) for about a week-and-a-half now. I’ve been getting hungry around 10, 2, and 7 every day. That kind of weirded me out in the beginning! There have been times in the past, though, when I have wanted a full-blown meal around 4 o’clock, and I often would think I have to wait for a better number. That never worked out well for me. But while practicing Intuitive Eating, I’ve been paying attention and eating according to body signals, and i feel great. I think even my skin looks better!
Allison says
I teach middle school, so I’m on a strict eating schedule. We open classrooms at 8:00, so I eat breakfast between 7:00 and 7:30 when I am in the car. Lunch period is at 11:30 this year, so that’ s my lunch time. School is out at 3:15, so I have a snack between 3:30 and 4:00 when I am working or coaching. I am more of an intuitive eater on days off, in the summer, and on weekends when I’m not on the school schedule.
Melissa says
I “kind of” eat according to the clock. It’s a really hard habit to break though!! Have a good time at the summit!
Cat says
I eat vaguely according to the clock but am trying to eat more according to my stomach. If I’m at work or home it’s a lot harder to wait until I’m hungry for lunch than if I’m otherwise occupied (yesterday I didn’t eat lunch until 4pm and it didn’t feel like a struggle). I just like and look forward to eating.
If you’re hungry for dinner earlier I think you should just eat and not feel bad about it, especially if you ate lunch about 12-1.
Allison says
I do that. Usually, I am really hungry, but it isn’t “time” yet, so I don’t want to eat. But, of course, that is bad too, because then I get over hungry which leads to over eating.
Michelle says
Yes, I do that too — yesterday it was 12:30 and I wasn’t really hungry for lunch but I ate anyway. :S Food doesn’t taste as good when you’re not hungry!