Whole Body Wellness

Are You Eating Enough?
Sometimes when I speak with my clients, I find they aren’t eating enough and that this is sabotaging their efforts to make good food choices and to lose weight. This may sound strange because in our society we’re taught that the less we eat, the healthier we will be.

Does this sound familiar?

You get up in the morning and have coffee, juice, maybe a small bowl of cereal or you skip breakfast altogether. You’re not hungry when you first wake up, so at first you feel ok. By mid-morning you’re hungry and dragging, but you have a cup of coffee or a diet soda and you’re able to make it to lunch when you have a salad or a small sandwich.

Then the late afternoon hits and you’re overwhelmed with cravings for sweets or salty/crunchy snacks. You can’t make it until dinner, so you raid your pantry or the vending machine at work. Or maybe you head to Starbucks for a Frappuccino.

If you have enough energy, you prepare dinner at home. If you’re feeling tired and still having cravings, you order takeout or go through a fast food drive-through. Dinner is your biggest meal of the day and when you’ve eaten dinner you feel relief that you finally feel satiated.

What is wrong with this picture?

First, let me say that if this is similar to how you’re eating, don’t feel badly. You’re not alone! This way of eating is often the consequence of having been on one or more calorie-restrictive diet programs. This is how you’ve been taught to eat.

Eating this way causes a few problems:

• Denying yourself enough food early in the day causes low energy
• Low energy causes cravings for sugar and caffeine
• Eating sugar and caffeine causes more cravings for these foods
• Not getting enough food earlier in the day may cause your metabolism to slow down
• Feeling deprived most of the day can lead to binging or unhealthy eating later in the day or evening
• Compensating for under-eating by eating snacks in the afternoon and a heavier dinner, isn’t working with the natural rhythm of your metabolism and may cause you to gain weight

Are you feeling confused about how and what you should be eating? I know how you feel because a few years ago I was exactly where you are, and I don’t want you to struggle (as I did) to figure out how to eat in a way that works for you.