How do you eat?!

[zanacal]

That title sounds all wrong but I couldn't think of anything which made any more sense!

So, I am a serial yo-yo dieter. I'm all or nothing - I was 'all' for the past 3 months prior to our sway and lost lots of weight and since I stopped the LE diet I've been 'nothing' and I've already put on weight. I'm not one of these people who can eat whatever they want and not put on weight - I could easily put on a stone (14lb) on a two week holiday but the flip side is that I can lose weight very quickly when I set my mind to it.

I do not have a healthy relationship with food and I actually enjoyed being on the LE diet because I knew what the 'rules' were in terms of when I could eat and I felt in control - and I was hoping to keep hold of some of these habits going forward.

So, my questions are - do you eat meals at set-times or do you just eat when you're hungry? Do you have snacks or 3 meals a day? Do you plan your meals or just choose something from the cupboard/fridge? Do you cook different meals all the time or just rotate a few ideas?

I'm planning on going back on my pre-swaying healthy eating meal plan (I do tend to lose weight on it but it's also suitable to do during pregnancy and breastfeeding because it's a healthy way to eat and not too restrictive) but I'm interested to hear how 'normal' people eat!

[swish]

Lol, I love this post, you are 'normal'
I can eat what I like and i don't change weight (I am disliked for it!!) which is why I was surprised I lost so much weight on LE diet as I hadn't really changed in years. Having said that, I think I eat naturally quite healthily. I did eat 3 meals a day at pretty much the same time. I never varied breakfast, lunch was whatever was in the fridge or something I picked up if I was out and about! Dinner was planned, 5 meals planned on weekend for mon-fri with some variety and some staple cheap meals!! There would be variety across the week, pasta one night, potatoes another, rice etc -you get the idea!! If I was with friends in the afternoon I would have biscuit/ cake etc but I'd never really eat sweet things on my own. I suppose I didn't snack as much as pick (this has been a hard habit ti break!!) by the way, have I mentioned that I can't wait to go back to my pre-sway diet!!!!

[rainbowflower]

I've only ever been underweight (as a teenager when I never ate breakfast) or a healthy weight since then... never found it easy to gain weight (although gained 2.5stone during pregnancy last time) but back to pre-pregnancy weight now.

I eat 3 meals per day, often snacks during the day too to keep me going. I always eat my 5-a-day, and will not have bread or pasta more than once per day. I always have some water by me to sip as I go too. Breakfast is something fibre-filled, lunch sandwiches/soup+roll/chips if it's cold... tea would be a spag bol/stir fry/cottage pie/etc with veg/salad.

These are great for healthy snacks by the way: www.graze.com - I used to get that delivered to my office and one would last me a week.

[swish]

Rainbow, this has made me sooo hungry, it'sright up my street!! I'm going to try it as soon as I get a bfp!

[rainbowflower]

are you referring to Graze, Swish? if so, they are yummy and they send you random punnets of healthy treats each time... although just as I stopped doing it they introduced flapjacks. I tried them once, they were delicious! In hindsight it was yet another blue sway thing (nuts) as I ate nuts daily helped greatly by these lol
the fresh fruit is really tasty as well

[swish]

Yes, graze, flapjacks are one of my favourite snacks, a real blue food!!

[zanacal]

I don't think there would be anything wrong with the foods I ate if I could eat them in moderation! That's why I'm thinking I need some stricter rules regarding meal times or something. Would you eat a meal at a certain time if you weren't hungry yet or would you wait until your tummy started rumbling?! Do you stop eating when you're full or do you always finish what's on your plate? Do you ever eat anything 'just because' or would you save something you really wanted for a time when you 'should' be eating?

[nuthinbutpink]

I used to skip breakfast daily. I still do many days. I eat lunch and dinner(not huge portions and very little fried) and snack in-between. I like sweets and popcorn. Always snack after dinner before bed. I love craisins. Don't drink soda. Also love dried cherries.

[rainbowflower]

I suppose I was always hungry... so I'd start preparing the meal when I got in from work. I like food. *sigh!*

TBH now you're pregnant I wouldn't deprive yourself. If you feel you want to control weight gain perhaps look into slimming world or something, but I would be wary about creating too many rules and not following your body's instincts!

[zanacal]

I will be doing Slimming World rainbow - I've done it many times before (including fairly recently) and I know it very well and I certainly won't be depriving myself if I'm hungry. It's the mindless eating (which I don't even enjoy!) that I need to stop - it's not healthy to stuff your face all day long whether pregnant or not!!

[swish]

Z, I always eat at the same time, hungry or not. I do stop if I'm full but thisdoesn't often happen as I'm good at getting portion just right. If I fancied something I'd have it rather than wait but I don't tend to have sweets/chocolates in the house (I do now but not pre-swaying) I believe you can change your eating habits if you want to, we've all proved that! You obviously like sticking to rules and if it works for you, why not! X

[Mochagirl]

This diet has made me realise how poor my eating habits have always been. I snack constantly - not because I'm hungry, but as entertainment. I've never been a big breakfast eater and normally try to have a healthy lunch, but then the eating begins. I snack in the afternoon, then always have a huge supper. I normally eat at least twice as much as DH, and I eat fast, so I have a bad tendency to not notice I'm full until I've eaten too much. One thing that's driving me crazy about the LE diet is that I never really feel 'full'. Tonight I finished supper and was desperate to eat something else, but I'm almost at my maximum for protein and sodium already. After the kids are in bed, I normally snack while I watch TV or read - it's how I relax. I go through periods when I snack mostly on fruit, but other times it's stuff like chips, chocolate and ice cream.

I am soooooo excited to be able to eat normally again (if you can call my old eating habits 'normal'), but I think I will always be much more aware of what I'm putting into my body. I am in total shock about how much sodium I used to eat.

[queen-of-harts]

Mochagirl you must be my twin as im just like you lol I really just eat out of bordom during the day and i have a bad relationship with food.I think i use it to calm me when im stressed,bored ect. I wish i could be one of those who CANT eat when stressed lol before i met dh i was likely primed for girls,i never really stressed,skipped breakfast and lunch daily then ate a normal dinner followed by an occasional yogurt before bed and i ate candy if i did eat during the day.Then i met dh and he always ate big bowls of ice cream,meat and plates of sharp cheese and i just followed his lead lol