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.  

Meal Prep and Planning - Locally

From charting my food intake it's easy to see a few patterns.  I've already discussed the emotional eating a little - and surely will again - so I will skip over that for now and move on to the next issue - planning ahead (or rather lack thereof). Like the other day when my stomach started growling because it' was 1:30, I hadn't eaten a thing since breakfast and I had another meeting 20 minutes. I could've brought a long a healthy snack and maybe even scheduled in time for a quick lunch - but I didn't.  So instead I ended up grabbing a Diet Coke,  shoving whatever was easiestt/fastest in my mouth and following up with a piece of gum (I always have gum).

If you know anything about me you are aware I'm more of a "fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants" kind of girl than a "planner". However, I am in "change mode right now and I recognize this change is necessary to moving forward in my journey. So it was fortuitous that Hyam is hosting a really fabulous seminar at the studio this week (seriously, this was a coincidence) about meal planning!  This is awesome not just because of the great information - but because while I'm not great at creating a plan - I am good at following one! (Ya always gotta have a plan, right Sissa?).

Laura Glassow will be discussing "Local and Seasonal Meal Planning and Preparation" tomorrow, May 26 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm at the studio.  After eating the entire bag of snap peas we bought at the City Market this weekend in one sitting (they were SO good!) I can't wait to learn more about working local foods into my daily diet.  Plus with the Spicy Chicken scheduled to travel nearly every week this summer, someone else is probably going to have to start cooking around here...

If you're in C'ville and would like to attend this seminar give Hyam a call at 434-245-2288.  Cost of the class is only $25 - and you get to take yummy recipes home with you!