Mindful Eating

Friday, June 1, 2012

Mindful Eating

I have given you a bit of insight into the exercise portion of my program, but I haven't said much about how my eating habits have changed.

Honestly, I haven't changed what I am eating that much.  What has changed (drastically) is the volume of food I am eating.  Meal times don't look much different for me except that my portion is smaller and I don't finish the kid's leftovers for them.

Another thing that has had to change is the number of times I eat during the day.  The way I am able to cut my portions drastically is by keeping my belly satisfied by snacking all day.  It weighs out to be 5 or 6 small meals per day.

Remembering the phrase "If you bite it, write it!" has been helpful, too.  I log everything that I eat.  Accountability is the biggest help to me.  I have online group of friends at My Fitness Pal that can see my food diary and how many calories I ate (and burned through exercise).  I log my food on MFP when I am home and when I am out, I use the iPhone app to log food.

Body For Life has a pretty easy to follow food plan if you are someone who cooks a lot or eats a real food diet.  Honestly, if you can stay away from the processed stuff it is pretty easy.  I am the main food shopper and preparer in our home.  My husband isn't really on board and he still has his stash of processed food, but really those things (chips and crackers mostly) hold very little appeal to me.  My downfall is ice cream and eating out.  I am learning how to eat real food when out and there seem to be good options everywhere I go!

So, here is the approved food list while on Body For Life:

Food List

Protein Chicken breast Turkey breast Lean ground turkey Swordfish Orange roughy Haddock Salmon Tuna Crab Lobster Shrimp Top round steak Top sirloin steak Lean ground beef Buffalo Lean ham Egg whites or substitutes Trout Low-fat cottage cheese Wild-game meat Turkey Bacon Complex Carbohydrates Potato Sweet potato Yams Squash Pumpkin Steamed brown rice Steamed wild rice Lentils Couscous Kashi Bulgur Whole-wheat pasta Oatmeal Barley Beans (black, kidney) Corn Strawberries Melon Apple Orange Fat-free yogurt Fat-free milk Whole-wheat bread High-fiber cereal Whole-wheat tortilla Whole-wheat pita bread Whole grains

Vegetables Broccoli Asparagus Lettuce Carrots Cauliflower Green beans Green peppers Mushrooms Spinach Tomato Peas Brussels sprouts Artichoke Cabbage Celery Zucchini Cucumber Onion Vegetable Proteins Tempeh Seitan Tofu Texturized vegetable protein Soy foods Veggie burgers Healthy Fats Avocado Sunflower seeds Pumpkin seeds Cold-water fish Natural peanut butter Low-fat cheese Low-sodium nuts Olives and olive oil Safflower oil Canola oil Sunflower oil Flax seed oil

What Not to Eat on Body-for-LIFE (except on your Free Day) Protein Pork bacon Deep-fried meat such as fried chicken, chicken fingers, fish sticks, Buffalo wings, etc. Hamburgers and fatty cuts of beef Hot dogs Simple Carbs Cookies Cake White rice White bread Crackers Candy French Fries Chips Doughnuts Soda Unhealthy Fats Butter Lard Mayonnaise Coconut oil Cream-based sauces Full-fat dairy products

One part of the Body For Life nutrition plan that I do not follow is the use of nutritional supplements and protein bars.  I prefer eating real food that I prepare here at home.  When something has 50 ingredients and I can pronounce half of them, I am not interested.

I may expand on this another day to let you see what a day of eating actually looks like for me.