Today I wanted to share with you this “photo” article I found on Nutrition Nibbles’ blog several weeks ago. The article described the seven reasons that we eat (or eat “more”). I agreed with every one of them, especially the ones that I highlighted in bold writing.
- Time of Day
- Sight of Food
- Variety
- Smell
- Alcohol
- Temperature (the colder, the more you eat!)
- Refined Carbs
After reading this article I realized that I eat dinner around 6pm every night, but not because I’m hungry,but instead because I think I should be hungry. Many times at 6pm I really am hungry, but just the other night I realized as I was fixing dinner I really wasn’t hungry! I was simply fixing food because it was 6pm…dinner time, right?! This is where intuitive eating really comes into play. So instead of continuing to cook, I stopped, listened to my body, and finished preparing dinner about an hour later, once Nick and I were actually hungry!
The third one is “variety” and it indicates our need for a sweet dessert after a dinner, even despite eating a ton of food. This is so true for me. Even after eating a large meal I must have something sweet to follow! What I’m realizing, however, is that I don’t need a large sweet, but instead a small piece of chocolate can actually do the trick. Of course I do have my ice cream on some nights too, but never a whole lot. I am usually satisfied with just a small scoop.
Sometimes I have two…..who doesn’t?!
The fifth one is “alcohol”…need I explain? Whenever I drink too much (um, our party, for example) I always get the munchies! Alcohol just takes a hold of me and makes me lose all ability to be intuitive and to make smart food decisions. Not good. This is another reason why it’s good to stick to one drink.
