Salutations™!!
So, I had my meeting with my friend Kristen Norton today. Kristen, as I told you yesterday, is with Well Balanced Nutrition and from my health things that I either am reading too much into, not enough into, or just because I need to, I think we have a plan that I can live with! Below is what we came up with for me, and remember this is just for me, what I can do (mentally/work-related) and what I’m willing to take up. Here we go:
1. Include veggies with my meals 3-4 times a week. Doable. As I’ve grown older, I have found a love, or at least a tolerance, for things I wouldn’t eat as a kid, even into young adulthood.
2. Minimize poor quality carbs (white bread, white rice, french fries, crackers, pizza crust, etc) when possible. Again, doable. I don’t care if I have white bread (I can get other buns for my burgers), fries, crackers, etc. The pizza crust will be harder. But, it’s up to me to adapt. I won’t do cauliflower crusts and stuff like that. I don’t want imitation food, even when made from other food.
3. Choose a cupped handful (or 2) of fiber-rich carbohydrates like potatoes w/ skin, beans, corn, peas, or whole grains. Now we’re talking. I like potatoes with skin. We had baked potatoes last week, twice, and I eat it all, skins and everything. Another long ramp to where I started, I now like beans. I will find beans. I never thought I’d say that. I like corn and peas and I love whole grain things.
4. Start small cause you’ll eat it all. On the Hunger Scale: aim to stop eating when you still feel a bit neutral 5-6, so you end up at a 6-7. I’m not going to share what all the numbers mean because that’s Kristen’s thing. But, let’s just say that I stop before I’m miserable. I have to allow my body to adjust to just eating. I can’t do much about how fast I eat, but I can stop and let my brain catch up with my stomach. In the past, it’s always been “all I see” and not “all I need.” Just because it’s in front of me, just because I paid for it, doesn’t mean I have to eat all of it. If possible, I will get a to go container, although that’s a whole other phobia I have to work on internally.
5. Consider at least a 12-hour fast overnight and see if you can stretch it to 13, 14 then 15… Going gradual can ensure you don’t get so hungry you want to overeat for your first meal. I am pretty okay with this one. I mean, some nights, according to my work load/schedule, I may not get to eat until 8p. That’s not great because your metabolism slows down once the sun goes down. But, sometimes it can’t be helped. So, if I don’t get to eat until 8p, then I don’t eat until after 8a. That’s okay, though, I don’t usually eat before 1030a or so, so at 12 hours, that’s easy. I am not a big midnight snack person, other than peanut butter. I will eat that, so I have to train not to have that spoonful at midnight. That’s okay, though. I can do it.
That’s my “plan.” Kristen is amazing and had a lot of questions and listened to my excuses and reasons why I can’t. Which, not that I think about it, I didn’t have a lot of reasons as to “can’t.” I had more why I “hadn’ts” if that’s a word. I am totally into being here and doing what I can to make it better. I am into addition, not subtraction. It’s not what I have to do without, it’s about what I can add. She was awesome walking me through that. She wasn’t scary. She didn’t take my favorite things away. She tried to steer me to better choices. So far, I’m okay with all of that. Thank you, Kristen!
If you’d like your own consultation with Kristen, or just want to know more about what she and her company, Well Balanced Nutrition are about, visit this page. Tell her that The Podfather sent you!
Oh, and I walked good bit today. I walked over to my mother’s house which is about a ¼ mile and then back, so ½ mile. Then, I walked in my circular driveway until I was well over 2000 steps. I ended up around 4700 or so for the day. I was proud of it. I have to work my way up.
Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!
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“Even if you do understand nutrition, knowing what to eat is only part of the equation.” – Well Balanced Nutrition