You have to eat.
No matter what your health goals are –weight loss, weight gain, hormone balance, feeling more energized, getting restful sleep, reducing your stress or improving digestion– your body needs fuel in the form of food. Nutrients from food break down into building blocks creating who you are. You wouldn’t drive a car without gas, so thinking you can go all day without eating is not logical.
A common theme coming up in my work with clients is under-eating. This can be due to having a mindset that eating less leads to weight loss, but more often than not it’s from being too busy to eat, having high stress levels, not having a regulated appetite or going into the week without having a plan. I can promise you that the more sporadic your eating is, the more chaotic your day may feel, both physically and mentally.
When you under-eat, you are causing a stress response to fire off inside of your body. Biologically your blood sugar can spike and drop and your adrenals will produce more of the stress hormone cortisol. Research shows us how skipping meals, especially breakfast, can prolong elevated cortisol levels in the body. Not only does this slow down your metabolism, deplete you, stress out your hormones and cause weight gain, but it’s literally communicating to your body that you are not safe. Your body perceives this as a threat, which in turn elevates your blood pressure to try and prepare your body to escape from the stressor. This can become a perpetual cycle because oftentimes when the body feels this level of stress it can actually down-regulate your appetite and digestion, shutting down your hunger cues. So think of the person who is stressed and overwhelmed through the day, fueling off of coffee and stress hormones. You may be efficient, hardworking, organized and go above and beyond getting everything accomplished, but you will eventually hit a wall because stress hormones can only take you so far. By the end of the day this person feels depleted, irritable and ravenous, having strong cravings for carbs, sugar and salt leading them to binge and overeat. It’s then in these moments you gravitate towards unhealthier options due to convenience, but also because the body is craving the quickest burst of energy, in the form of carbs, sugar and processed foods. Now you go to bed feeling heavy and awful, waking up the next morning without an appetite because you ate so much the night before. Prioritizing your nutrition is key for meeting your goals while also enabling you to feel more in control of your life.
After I explain this cycle to a client, I am usually told how they don’t wake up feeling hungry. This in itself is a red flag, signaling to us that their body is running off of stress hormones. Remember, when stress is on, digestion is off. I am also frequently told that if they start eating in the morning, then they feel hungrier during the day. Remember, this type of client usually “can go all day without eating” and thinks this is a good thing. Having normal hunger before it is time to eat is a good sign, it’s the body signaling that it is not in a stressed state therefore your metabolism is working efficiently.
Signs you are not eating enough during the day:
-You feel ravenous before your next meal.
-Your energy drops between meals but then increases after eating.
-You fight cravings, especially for carbs and sweets.
-You binge at night or eat a much bigger dinner and then need dessert.
-You feel nauseated before eating.
-You experience low blood sugar:
+You become “hangry”-- irritable, cranky and moody without eating.
+You get shaky before meals.
+You get light headed before meals.
-You experience constipation.
Signs you are eating enough to support your energy, metabolism and blood sugar:
-You feel energized during the day and are not crashing.
-You feel satiated between your meals and are not ravenous when it’s time for the next meal.
-You don’t get hangry, irritable, shaky or nauseous between meals.
-Your digestion is healthy, you are pooping regularly 1-3x’s per day.
-Your periods are regular.
-Your weight is pretty stable, you aren’t gaining or losing once your body is at a healthy weight.
Breaking the cycle
It can feel really hard to break this cycle, especially when you are so used to not eating enough during the day and are living off of stress hormones. I usually suggest for clients to eat within 45 minutes of waking up, before having any caffeine. But, I know you probably aren’t waking up hungry. So start small, maybe having a piece of fruit with nut butter, a handful of nuts, a hard boiled egg, or some yogurt and berries. I see that once people gradually start feeding themselves in the morning, even if it’s a handful of food, over time their body begins to feel safer, appetite regulates and they start waking up hungry. Eating enough will also build your body’s resilience to be able to better manage the stressors in life.
Keep in mind how everyone is different. Some people can thrive when intermittent fasting: going 16 hours without eating and then eating your meals within an 8 hour window. But if this article has resonated with you so far, you most likely are causing more harm in the body by restricting eating during the day. Research shows us that intermittent fasting works best for men and postmenopausal women. With the majority of my clients, I see this period of fasting really back-fire. Try fasting overnight for 12 hours, this is more than enough!
Eating every 3-4 hours to support blood sugar and reduce internal stress. We want to give the body 3-4 hours without food to reduce insulin production and to give your gut enough time for the migrating motor complex to kick in, which does “housekeeping” in the small intestine between meals. All meals and snacks should be focused on minimally processed whole foods, with a balance of protein, fibrous carbs from veggies, fruit, whole grains, beans, and healthy fats. If you struggle going 3-4 hours without eating, you’d want to work with a practitioner to better understand how to tweak the amount of food and your macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate and fat intake) at each meal.
Example of an eating schedule:
(Again, depending on the individual and their needs, you may need to go longer between meals, while others may need to eat more frequently. This can all depend on the state of your blood sugar and nervous system. Below is one example.)
Wake up 7 am: Drink a glass of water with lemon.
7:30 am: Focusing on 30 grams of protein + healthy fat + fibrous carb. If you enjoy a caffeinated beverage like coffee, green tea or black tea, try drinking it after you eat and after you hydrate with water first.
10:30 am: Snack 3 hours later if needed. Focus on balance with snacks too! Snack is a great opportunity for sneaking in a serving of veggies/fruit paired with protein.
1 pm: Lunch: Focusing on a balanced plate with 20-30 grams of protein, complex carbs, non-starchy veggies and healthy fat.
4 pm: Snack: 10-15 grams of protein + fruit or veggie.
7 pm: Dinner: Focusing on a balanced plate with 20-30 grams of protein, complex carbs, non-starchy veggies and healthy fat.
9 pm: Possible snack before bed depending on the client’s needs. If you often wake up throughout the night, your blood sugar may be crashing and having a snack can help prevent this from happening. Again, this all depends on the state of your metabolism and nervous system. Try having a small snack that is balanced. My favorite is a golden milk latte with coconut milk and a handful of pistachios.
Sometimes your body really needs to be given structure in order to help your appetite regulate. Imagine if you were to go to bed at different times each night. For example, on Monday bedtime is at 10 pm, Tuesday you go to bed at 2 am, Wednesday you fall asleep at 4 pm. Your body would not like this at all. You would feel awful because your body depends on consistency and rhythm. Your eating schedule, or lack thereof, contributes to the same response in the body; it either can create the feeling of safety or fuel the feeling of stress.
Understanding your eating patterns
It is important to eat when you are hungry, but also equally beneficial to understand why you may be getting hungry randomly throughout the day or after an entire day of eating. Sometimes this is due to not eating enough protein and fiber, under-eating, eating too many processed foods or skipping breakfast and other meals. Tracking your food intake can be a helpful tool in learning your body’s patterns and needs, in addition to understanding how empty calories from processed foods make you feel. Personally, I would only track to make sure I am not under-eating and to pay more attention to eating balanced macronutrients. When clients are using the mindset of calorie counting, they usually aren’t eating enough of the nutritious foods they need to regulate their fullness, like protein, healthy fat and fiber, which ultimately backfires.
Another tool I use in practice is The Hunger-Fullness Scale. Together we brainstorm what your levels of hunger and fullness can look like throughout the day. Then can figure out the reasoning behind these patterns.
Meal Planning 101
So now let’s lean on a useful tool to help support your eating structure: meal planning!
Being intentional about what and when you eat is really important, but most people don’t have the luxury of freely going with the flow and figuring it out as they go. Planning ahead makes it so much easier to stick to your goals, nourish your body and stay on track to prevent you from getting too hungry later on.
How meal planning helps:
-Planning ahead can take the stress out of the equation. The hardest time to figure out what to eat, especially if you are wanting to make a healthier choice, is when it is time to eat. When you are hungry and tired, the last thing you want to do is start cooking or going to the store to get ingredients.
-You will look forward to your yummy meals and snacks throughout the day.
-Eating enough of the right foods and not stressing about food regulates digestion, especially if you struggle with constipation.
-Supporting sustainable energy versus bursts of energy and then crashing between meals.
-Reducing binges and cravings, especially later on in the evening.
-Building resilience to manage stress better. You want to give your body the right nutrients to support it in managing day to day stressors. Tapping into your stress hormones for energy leads to burnout, weight gain, hormone imbalance and fatigue.
It Pays to Plan
As a Practitioner and Coach I give examples of a meal plan and recipes to try, but rarely give clients a specific meal plan to always follow because that’s never been sustainable for anyone. Sure, you can follow the plan for a few weeks, but what happens when you get bored of it, travel, or “fall off track?” I’d rather teach you how to plan for yourself and how to build balanced meals and snacks so you become confident in knowing how to support your body’s needs. After working with hundreds of clients, I’ve learned there is definitely not one right approach for meal planning. Just like everything in wellness, it is bioindividual. I’ve gathered some insight around tips that work for most people and came up with a variety of suggestions I usually share with clients.
Meal planning strategies
Write out your meals and grocery list ahead of time. Always go to the store with a plan in mind. Not only does this save time, it also saves money and leaves you knowing exactly what ingredients you need for your meals and snacks.
Keep a running grocery list on a notepad in your kitchen or on your phone. This is a great technique for keeping track of when you run out of staple items. Always check what you do have on hand which can help you figure out your meals for the following week.
Keep a running list of yummy recipes that work for you and your family. If you can build a repertoire of recipes, figuring out what to eat for the upcoming week will take way less time. Add to this list throughout the week whenever you feel inspired or crave a specific meal, rather than waiting until the last minute to figure out what you want to make for the week.
Schedule time into your calendar to shop and prep. Spending half a day planning and prepping over the weekend can be really time consuming. Break it up into smaller bite size pieces. Maybe spend some time one evening during the week to pick your meals and make a grocery list. Maybe go to the grocery store one day over the weekend, and then spend some time cooking during another part of your weekend.
Meal prepping strategies:
Meal prep for the week method: This works well for people who don’t mind leftovers or eating the same foods for days. You can take an hour or so on the weekend to cook and portion out your meals in tupperware, making meal time during the work week pretty automatic. I personally did this years ago but got burnt out pretty quickly eating the same food over and over. This led me to wasting food because I wouldn’t want to eat it after the third day.
Cook 2-3x per week: This is great for people who can eat leftovers 1-2 times but don’t want to get stuck eating the same meals over and over. Pick two nights during the workweek to cook, and rely on the leftovers on the other days. For example, on Sunday evening cook dinner and have leftovers for Monday and Tuesday dinner. While you are cooking dinner on Sunday, take time to make lunch for the first half of the week too. On Wednesday night cook again for the rest of the work week, making one dinner with leftovers and having lunch prepared for Thursday and Friday.
Eat once cook twice: If you prefer eating a different meal each night for dinner but struggle with lunches, this idea is for you! Make enough for dinner to have leftovers to have for lunch the next day. Not only will this ensure you don’t skip lunch, but you will also have a balanced home cooked meal to look forward to.
Ingredient prep: A common obstacle getting in the way of cooking is the time commitment that it can take. Personally, I enjoy cooking because it is a creative outlet which, for me, is therapeutic. I understand for many it can be a pain. One action step to take that can dramatically reduce the amount of time spent in the kitchen is prepping your ingredients ahead of time. Take an additional 15 minutes after unpacking your groceries from the store to wash, chop, and marinate your veggies and protein. That way, when it’s time to cook the meal, all you really have to do is throw the ingredients together.
Batch Cooking:
This method is helpful for having key ingredient staples on hand. You don’t have to eat the same meal over and over, but it is nice having protein, veggies and grains already prepared that you can use in different meals.
For example:
Repurpose protein: meatballs, roasted chicken, crockpot pulled meat, homemade beans, lentils, or buying a rotisserie chicken. You can use this protein for bowls, wraps, salads, snacks, etc.
Make a carbohydrate in bulk: Quinoa, rice, sweet potatoes
Plan for veggies: frozen veggies, sheet pan roasted veggies, stir fry or grill veggies to add to bowls, salads, wraps.
Always have a backup plan:
Sometimes you can have an entire plan laid out but something comes up, getting in the way of following through. Maybe you are running late and don’t have time to cook, or maybe you are in the mood for eating something else. It never hurts having some staple items in the house to fall back on just in case.
Beans, lentils, wild salmon, chicken salad, hard boiled eggs, wraps, frozen fruit, frozen veggies, quinoa, bone broth, chia seeds, coconut milk, frozen protein like ground meats and chicken breast.
Have the right cookware and food storage necessities:
Using non toxic cookware and tupperware is really important because heavy metals and toxins can leach into your food when heated. The toxins and chemicals can disrupt your brain health and can act as endocrine disruptors, mimicking hormones in the body like estrogens. Below are some of my favorite non-toxic products.
Sample of a meal plan for the week:
References
The Hunger Fullness Scale Retrieved from https://uhs.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/wellness-hungersatietyscale.pdf
Witbracht, M., Keim, N. L., Forester, S., Widaman, A., & Laugero, K. (2015). Female breakfast skippers display a disrupted cortisol rhythm and elevated blood pressure. Physiology & behavior, 140, 215–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.12.044
Comments