I would recommend having a small cheat meal once a week. This keeps you motivated because you don't feel deprived. You could also drink a glass of water before each meal so you don't feel as if you starved.
Re: Newbee
Hey luvscharmed!! Welcome to the forum!! The journals here are a great place to keep people on track--the members of this forum are awesome and very supportive Glad to have you on board
Re: Newbee
Welcome girl...if you read all the posts here you will learn heaps Have fun and enjoy
Good advise SicksOnenine(buddy I need something shorter,that name is just too loooong for me to write )
Re: Newbee
I must be real old not to spot that one..or maybe rather uneducated in that filed I will take that uneducated one..the old one is not sooo apealing to me LOL....Cool.. Sicks it is then
We all relate to your feelings. Diet is the toughest part of the fitness lifestyle but unfortunately the most important. And we all have our weaknesses (for me friendly girls are are a greater weakness than ice cream but that's a subject for another website.)
Here's a couple of things that might help make strict dieting a little easier.
As already mentioned: drink water before each meal. If you can do this 20 minutes to a half hour prior to eating it will stimulate the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach which is key to digesting protein. For maintenance you need a half ounce of water (14 ml) per pound of body weight or roughly 1.4 Liters for every 100 lbs. On workout days, times of stress or hot weather you need more.
If you're eating a sit down meal (as opposed to a protein shake or sandwich) eat the protein portion first. This allows the acid in your stomach maximum opportunity to break down protein before it gets diluted by the carb portion of the meal. When digestion is good the body gets the nutrients it needs and sends out fewer messages (cravings) for things it's missing.
Take your time and chew your food thoroughly. This isn't always possible (Darrin and I both know what it's like to chug an MRP shake while a client's waiting) but try to get in the habit. Food should be completely liquified before swallowing. Saliva is not just a lubricant it contains enzymes that start breaking down food immediately. Many of these enzymes are neutralized by stomach acid so when food spends more time in the mouth it is digested better. Another benefit to taking your time is you feel more full with the same amount of food. Feeling full actually has little to do with how much you have in your stomach; it is controlled by a hormone called leptin. When food enters an empty stomach leptin levels start to rise in the blood. Unfortunately it takes about 20 minutes for the levels to peak regardless of how much we eat. So if you gulp down a meal in 5 minutes you might still feel hungry but if you take 20 minutes to eat the same meal you'll walk away feeling fuller.
Lastly (this is the New Age portion of the program) consider how you feel about your food. The body is controlled by the nervous system which is enormously complex and is viewed different ways depending on what you're considering. For our purposes the nervous system is divided into two subsystems: the Sympathetic (SNS) and Parasympathetic (PNS) Nervous Systems. The SNS is dominant when we're active and goes into overdrive when we're under stress. The PNS takes over when we're relaxing. Now digestion is much better when the PNS is in control and gets progressively worse the more the SNS takes charge (That's why stress can cause ulcers). If you make the effort to calm yourself completely before eating your digestion will be better and you'll have fewer cravings. The best way to do this is to forget about what's driving you nuts and concentrate on the taste of your food. Even bland food becomes interesting if you take time to chew it thoroughly and try to pick out the flavours of the ingredients. By making bland food interesting you go a long way towards making a healthy diet emotionally satisfying and teaching your body it doesn't need comfort foods.
Sorry I'm so long winded (too much cardio in my youth) but I hope it helps.
So email me at qweenb_345@yahoo.com
Have fun and enjoy
)
I will take that uneducated one..the old one is not sooo apealing to me LOL....Cool.. Sicks it is then
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