Hunger

Today was a good example of why starving yourself while you're dieting isn't a good idea. By "starving" I, of course, don't mean purposefully not allowing oneself to eat (been there, done that) but rather trying to fit so many things into your day that you don't have time to stop for something as trivial as a meal.  

Weekdays are often like this for me.  I leave the house as soon as the girls hop on the bus at 7:15 and run around between the radio station, the the tv station, client meetings, Women's Health Virginia and attempt to fit in some home and work errands until I arrive home 3:00 - completely ravenous.  This obviously doesn't set me up for making good choices when I do get a chance to eat.  Rather, I tend to  grab the first thing I can get my hands on.  

Today the first thing I grabbed after staring hungrily into the refrigerator for a few l-o--n-g minutes was a low-fat cheese stick. Protein and calcium are good for me, right?  It didn't, however, satisfy me so I kept on looking,  There were lots of fruits and vegetables in the fridge, of course, but all of them required washing, peeling or chopping (or, even worse - all three!!) so they were out. I was starving, remember? I needed something immediately.  So, I decided to stop wasting electricity and headed to the "snack drawer". 


Our "snack drawer"  probably isn't like most families with 2 young kids.  You won't find cookies, fruit roll-ups or potato chips here.  What you will find is what we'd like to think are "healthy snacks".  However, the more I learn about nutrition the more I realize what we really have is a lot of "hidden sugar".  We have a lot of  thing you wouldn't necessarily think of as sugar laden, but probably are.  Like the so-called "healthy granola bars" that I let the girls eat because they at least get some fiber from them - the "yogurt" covered raisins that might as well be chocolate covered they're so high in sugar and calories - and the organic blue corn chips that are really no healthier that the original (though I do truly prefer their taste).  Along side these so-called healthy snacks are, of course, a few truly healthy options like sunflower seeds, almonds and dates but when you're as hungry as I am those things don't necessarily catch your eye. So what do I grab?  The granola bar (I could always use a little extra fiber, right?).

My search through the kitchen continued for awhile longer in a similar fashion - finding nothing of substances but definitely full of calories.  At the end of the afternoon I found myself feeling overly full - yet not satisfied - after consuming what was probably enough calories to cover me for two meals, let alone one.


Note to Self: Things aren't going to get any less busy, so it's imperative that I get a handle on this.  Preparation is key.