Three-Meal Thursday

This is a typical example of what I eat each day. One of the hardest things for me in changing my diet has been not skipping meals. I used to never eat breakfast. I'd either have a huge lunch, and no dinner or skip lunch too and indulge in a huge dinner. I knew this was bad but I figured my calorie intake would be the same, or smaller so it shouldn't effect my weight. But it was!

Not only did I tend to over indulge because I waited so long to eat, I learned that "when you skip meals, it throws off your blood sugar and triggers insulin instability, which then causes you to overeat when you finally do eat. Studies have shown that food tastes 25% better when we are overly hungry, which naturally leads to overeating. In addition, being super hungry depletes your willpower. . . Skipping meals may wreak havoc on your health as well. Researchers compared subjects who ate three meals per day versus those who had one large evening meal. They found that meal skipping showed elevated fasting glucose levels and a delayed insulin response, both possible precursors to diabetes if the habit is maintained over the long term." (Slim For Life, 25).

It's still taking some getting used to. I'm not used to taking out time during my day to have a meal. In the morning I usually have just enough time to get ready and go. Now I pop some oatmeal in the microwave or grab a yogurt and eat it as I get ready. It's probably the biggest change I've made to my diet.