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Thursday, April 25, 2013

what to eat, when to eat

My diet/exercise regimen is just driving me nuts. I never eat quite as well in the depths of winter as I do in the summer, and the combination of odd hours and the fact that I'm not always the one making the grocery lists or cooking has been catching up to me.

I think it mostly comes down to three things. My sweet tooth is always something that I struggle to stay on top of and I know my constant desire to have a brownie or a few pieces of chocolate or a couple of gummi cola bottles or some baked goods or caramel sauce on my pancakes is never consistent with keeping myself at a size I like - but this is manageable, really. Having the occasional cookie is not a big deal and I'm not going to fuss about it. My sweet tooth is not going away, but I'm more than capable of managing it.

What is a big deal is the fact that I haven't been very consistent about breakfasts lately, and that I'm then voraciously hungry at the end of the night. Come 9 o'clock I want to eat everything in sight and if I don't I get nasty grumpy, and at 9 in the evening about all I have the temperament to grab are boxed cookies or chips or something equally terrible. It's stupid, too, because I know when I eat breakfast (or even have a latte for breakfast!) I can keep my evening hunger to a manageable level. When I eat breakfast I'm capable of eating two squares of a king sized hazelnut chocolate bar, whereas when I don't I'm probably going to eat the whole thing.

So I'm trying to make a real effort to do the breakfast thing. It's a hard adjustment for me as I hate eating in the morning, and find it makes me queasy. I may end up making friends with the tub of Slimfast my mom has lurking in her cupboard. I don't know. But I've got to start doing something about it.

What are your food pitfalls? How do you work to overcome them? Any awesome and easy breakfast ideas I can steal?

4 comments:

  1. You know it's funny that you write about this, because I was thinking of starting a series: "What do you eat for breakfast?" asking several people.

    I also have a sweet tooth and though we eat lots of vegetables, we always end up wanting cookies (can't have them in the house or we eat them all in one sit... so we get them as a treat every now and then, at gas stations or so) or candy, or soda.

    I have been trying to minimize sugar and I find it hard to do, because replacing it with honey is just about the same (also causes an insulin peak). Breakfast is the hardest meal for this, as I normally have a big cup of tea and toast with butter / jam / honey and a fruit. If I were to avoid the jam, what would I replace it with?

    I like granola / oatmeal, but the types I like are also sugar packed (or I add the honey myself).

    It really is something I am trying to figure out.

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    1. Breakfast is hard. I just don't have the energy first thing to actually cook something I'll love. Back in university I'd make a big pot of steel cut oats once a week though and have leftovers in the morning and I'm starting to think I should get in that habit again.

      I suppose if you wanted to avoid jam you could always try a nut butter with your toast? One big upside there is there's some extra protein which can be good in the mornings but it's a trade off with sweet vs fat.

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  2. I was never a big breakfast eater... Although I LOVE breakfast foods and would eat them during any of my other meals. I also don't have the energy to actually COOK something in the mornings so lately I've been eating a whole grain bagel with peanutbutter and sliced up bananas on top! Quick, easy and so yummy!

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    1. I'm so with you on not having the morning energy. I wish I did, but really first thing in the morning I don't want to be dancing around the kitchen just to get something on the plate.

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