What time is it? It's time to eat! WOOOOOHOOOOO!

One of my downfalls was that I was always eating.  Most of the time it wasn't even a conscious decision to eat, I just ate all the time.  If something great happened, we would go out for a beautiful dinner to celebrate.  If I was bored, I had a snack.  If we had company over, we'd all snack.  If I was visiting someone elses house- hungry or not, if the snacks were out, I'd snack.  If the kids were having a snack, I had a snack.  If the kids went for a nap and I finally had a moment to myself, I would have a snack.  Making lunch for the kids?  Couple nibbles of that.  Up late?  Snack.  Movie night with the hubby?  Snack time!  Emotionally upset...oh, wait..a snack can fix that.  Depressed from the state of myself...screw it, what's the point anyways right?  May as well have another snack.  Cooking dinner?  Tasted this and that until it was just right and guess what? If you add up all of those snacks, I was eating the equivalent to 5-6 meals (full meals) a day (calorically speaking). 

One of the first things I did that started me down my healthy living path was to figure out why I was turning to food.  My ahh ha! moment was when I read a book that somehow had me and my skeletons pegged.  See link for detail:  http://www.webmd.com/diet/personality-type-diet-what-it-is   A real eye opener.

I love food.  Always have, always will.  I grew up surrounded by people who love food.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with loving food, after all...without it, we would be no longer.  BUT...there is something wrong with living to eat instead of eating to live.  I know that is such a cliche' but if you stare at it long enough and really break it down, it is so true. 

Meals and snacks should be scheduled.  Although this helps you to sustain a certain amount of energy all day long, regulates good blood glucose levels and makes it easy to calculate fat/carb/sugar intake..I don't do it for all that.  I do it for control.  There isn't much that is under our control these days.  But there is one thing I can control...I CAN control what and when I eat.  I have breakfast @ 8am, snack @ 10:30am, lunch @ 12:30pm, snack @ 3:30pm, dinner @ 6pm and a final snack @ 7:30pm.  I keep a tight ship and stick to the schedule.  If I don't, then it is too easy to slip back into a bite here and a nibble there.  This way, you know it's time to treat yourself and you don't have to feel guilty.  It is kind of like a game for me.  What is more important -schedule everything else in our lives...car repairs, children's doctor's visits, trips to the grocery store, errands, H&R Block appointments...are we not important enough to schedule a few moments with ourselves throughout the day?  It gives me the opportunity to slow down.  I am a mother of twin three-year olds and a five year old (all girls).  Schedule is my middle name.  I have found so much more energy just from making sure that my body has what it needs to keep on chugging along. 

Choose snacks that you like!  No, I don't mean that you should grab a snack size back of Doritos for your 10:30am snack because you like them.  What I mean is, compile a bunch of things that you love then turn them into healthy versions.  If you find yourself craving chicken parmigiana, figure out a way to make it in a healthy way. (I have a great & super fast chicken parm fix!  But that's for another day :)  Ask yourself, "Self, what corner's can I cut to shave off calories/fat/sugar?"  After a while, this will become second nature.  Cook with fresh herbs and preservative free & MSG free ingredients so that you can really taste what you are cooking, instead of eating what the food industry has added to get you hooked.  Then you will really love to eat what you have prepared to eat and what you have prepared to eat will help sustain you.