Today I went back to see Duke's nutritionist for the second time; she was just as helpful as last time and patiently answered a lot of my questions about portion sizes, what constitutes a "good" meal, etc. We also went over my food log to talk about the meals that I've been eating since visiting her the first time. I think just writing down everything I ate, knowing that someone other than me was going to read it, was a motivating factor in eating better. Accountability or whatever.
Essentially what I've changed about my diet is eating a good breakfast and planning more efficiently for lunch. I always had the idea that lunch was some sort of sandwich or something, fruit, and something crunchy. But actually it doesn't matter what the individual items are as long as they have the necessary nutritional value. For example, eating a CLIF bar, then some cheese, and an apple is a perfectly balanced lunch, even if it's not really the norm for lunches. And not that I'd want to eat that all the time, but it's nice to know.
Even though I don't have another appointment with the nutritionist scheduled, I'm going to continue with writing down what I eat to see how that helps keep me in check. Things I noticed in the past two weeks:
-I eat breakfast, have a morning snack, then lunch around 1, but then nothing until dinner at 7. Keeping track helped me realize that some sort of afternoon snack would prevent me from being starving when I get home, unable to wait for Keegan to get home from work to eat dinner
-I stay longer at work and get more accomplished; when 4:30 rolls around I'm not getting ready to leave because I'm hungry and tired and just want to lay around. I leave closer to 6 most days now and I'm not dying when I get home
-Easier to stay focused in general
-No crazy binge-snacking (ie eating half a box of cereal or Cheez-its)
-I make more conscious eating decisions; for example, the weekend after my first meeting with Nancy I bought some flavored Triscuits and I still have the same box. They're really tasty but have more fiber and I eat them with cheese or craisins or something so I'm not just eating a lot of nothing.
-I sleep better
-I pay less attention to total calorie consumption and more on what individual things I'm eating at each meal/snack
-I'm not hungry for random junk after dinner
Anyway, I think today I'll weigh myself and then see how/if my weight changes between now and two weeks from now to see how my weight is influenced by these new eating habits.
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