Eating time pyramid and members of family not dieting- advice needed!
I've had 2 personal trainer-ish people say this to me- you should eat more in the morning and less in the evenings, ie have a larger breakfast and less for dinner. So your consumption should look like an upside down triangle so to speak. Has anyone done this? And does anyone have advice on how to do it when you are in a house where you dont cook most of the time and no one else is dieting? I've never openly said to the people i live with that i am dieting, because i hate being ridiculed, pestered, interrogated, etc. How do I eat less in the evenings without being exposed to the Spanish Inquisition?
I've never done that, but it seems like it would help. As far as dealing with the ppl you live with. You could say you had a big lunch and aren't as hungry. Or just be open with them and say you're changing you're eating habits and don't want to eat a huge dinner.. It's awful feeling so full and bloated before you go to bed. Good luck!
I actually seen this on a show on the discover channel a while back. It was a rapid weight loss show or something and they showed a lady who swapped dinner for breakfast and lost a ton of weight. It makes sense to me that you should eat more in the morning and less at night because you need more energy in the day then when you sleep and what you ate for breakfast will be long burned off before dinner time.
I kinda do that. My dad says I eat like a European, even though I was born in America (my dad is from Italy). I tend to gravitate towards a medium breakfast - usually oatmeal and fruit, and then a yogurt when I get to work - but I do most of my eating between 12 and 3. That's when my body is its hungriest. I usually eat dinner around 7 or 8, and its very light, usually chicken or turkey breast with some veggies and maybe rice if I'm hungry enough. I've never been a night eater, and on the days I do eat a lot before bed, I wake up starving, and I hate that.
At our WW meeting last night, the leader did try to steer us towards this type of eating though - I've read so many books about how your its best to eat more earlier in the day, so it does make sense.
I have never done it that way. Well, I did many years back. I naturally want to eat more in the evenings than in the day. I have a good breakfast and light lunch. About 1/2 my calories are consumed between 6 and bedtime. Sorry, I can't be of more help. I am interested in knowing what the two trainers feel so strongly about that. It seems to contradict the more recent information I have read.
It's like the saying goes: Eat breakfast like a king, lunch as a prince, and dinner as a pauper.
I have been doing this for the last year and it has worked quite well for me. I eat a really good calorie dense nutritious meal for breakfast, lunch is a smaller version, and dinner is normally just 1 serving of meat with a bunch of vegetables in various forms. Plus snacks every 2-3 hrs. Of course it really matters what your meals consist of, but by planning meals this way i don't get that energy dip I used to in the middle of the day, and at night I feel much more comfortable.
In regards to avoiding confrontation at home, it's not like you're eating like a bird for dinner when your plate is full (veggies take up a lot of room!). You can justify why you're doing what you're doing and leave it at that if you feel like it. They'll get bored of saying anything about it eventually. I got a lot of comments from the fiance when I first changed what I was doing but now he models his dinners after mine. Co-workers have always made comments at lunch but they've gone from being a little catty to now being envious of my healthy well prepared lunches. (As I'm eating my homemade chili, or having a tuna wrap with a variety of vegetables and a piece of cheese, etc while they're heating a mr. noodles or having their lunch of multiple coffees)
thanks guys, i will probably have to suck it up and just do it and deal with any comments as i go. Its not like they lost 15kg last year is it? So what would they know :P I just hate being asked about my weight loss for some reason! I have no idea why but i get really defensive. I feel better with all of you guys behind me
I was told to do this by my personal trainer years ago but i ignored it saying "a calorie's a calorie whenever you eat it", but apparently thats not working so great for me now >.< I think it may help control my over eating in the evenings. Well, hopefully
I mean, I look back at pictures of myself when I was 14...I weighed 150 lbs, still overweight for my height, but I'm "blessed" (as my sister says) so I'll just ignore that 10 lbs over BMI - I looked FINE. Possibly maybe too thin. And I was teased soooooo much. I went home from school crying every day because I thought I was so fat. Sometimes I wish I could go back to my 14 year old self, give her a hug, some self-esteem, and kick the rest of those kids in the you know where.
I don't know why family members like to make negative comments, even if they are being sarcastic. I remember when I was over for dinner at my ex-boyfriends, I would rinse their veggies in a bowl of water to get rid of the excess oil. You can do stuff to modify the dishes if you don't cook.
Jillian Michaels says to avoid carbs at night because it produces insulin that affects human growth hormones when you sleep. She also said that when you do any activity, your body burns part stored energy (fat) and part sugar in your blood (what you just ate). This was very enlightening for me. It means that if you eat earlier, you will be able to burn off the sugar in your blood so it doesn't get stored as fat. If you eat before bed, it will get stored as fat and you won't be able to use it the next day. I hope this makes sense.
I also used to think I was fat in high school, now I'm 20 lbs heavier. If only I had known, I would've appreciated my body more. Which makes me wonder if I'll still think I'm fat once I reach my goal weight.
Last edited by UWPiPhiAngel; 04-29-2009 at 04:49 PM.
Eating time pyramid and members of family not dieting- advice needed!
