We are conditioned
to eat three meals a day and snack in between. Even our weight
loss diets prescribe three squares plus a few extra corners.
I know living
to eat. If you are thinking about what to make for a next meal,
or what to snack on, and you're not hungry, you are living
to eat. Feeling like having something to eat is not hunger;
I think sometimes we believe our sensaton of desire for food
is hunger.
I'm not advocating
severe low caloric content dieting, starvation levels under 900
calories a day, or any other torture. In fact, I advocate eating
all day. If you eat a handful of cereal, or a handful of blueberries
or tomatoes when you're hungey - and then go do something, anything
but look at an empty plate or the fridge, you will be satisfied;
you can eat like that all day in a grazing fashion, never be
hungry, and not overeat.
The trick is
to feed your body what it needs, not what your mind wants. Your
body will tell you. You know when it's 103 degrees and
you've been carrying boxes, your body tells you it wants water.
If you learn to listen to your body, it will actually hunger
for specific nutrients. I almost never eat bananas. But once
in a blue moon I want one; it's my body saying pass the potassium.
I didn't say
this would be easy, at least not at first. Getting off the idea
of three squares plus is a hurdle. But I found that once I chose
to graze, I could later include a regular meal still be eating
to live. I did find that Edward and I can split any meal anywehre
and both still leave some over. We eat all day, but we don't
eat until stuffed.
The harder
part of eating to live was in facing the things I didn't have
to look at if I was preoccupied with hunting/gathering (at Safeway
or Publix) and eating.
If you're interested,
I'll be happy to answer any questions. E-MAIL
ME