I was reading on the web about the 8 habits of naturally thin people. One of the biggies is that naturally slim people aren't afraid of feeling hungry. It is no big deal because they know that they will eat later. 5:2 has done this for me. Hunger is now one of those things that I am aware of in an almost intellectual, disinterested way. I'm not caught up in it any more. I certainly never feel frantic.
Slim people eat mindfully rather than mechanically. They pause and think about how they feel. If they are satisfied rather than full (say 60-70% full), they stop. Mind-blowing, I know! This is one of the things I'm working on. For awhile, I'm really good at this. Then I relapse and let my desire to finish something or continue for the taste, not because I'm hungry cause me to eat more than I need or really want.
Another habit is that they are pretty predictable in their diet. On most days they routinely follow the same eating pattern for their meals. They eat the same meal for breakfast every day--cereal or whatever. They might eat a salad everyday for lunch, one day with turkey in it, another day with tuna, etc. Their dinner also follows a pattern. In this way, there are fewer decisions to make, fewer opportunities to go crazy, less time obsessing about food. I think this is why we do so well on minimalist days (fast days) and have more trouble on feeding days. The longer I go between fasts (others have also said this), the more I seem to slip back into a more difficult, uncontrolled place. So, without obsessing or calorie counting, I need to find a nice framework for my non-minimalist days. Work in progress.
I really want to be in that "naturally slim" place all the time. Maybe one of these days.
Slim people eat mindfully rather than mechanically. They pause and think about how they feel. If they are satisfied rather than full (say 60-70% full), they stop. Mind-blowing, I know! This is one of the things I'm working on. For awhile, I'm really good at this. Then I relapse and let my desire to finish something or continue for the taste, not because I'm hungry cause me to eat more than I need or really want.
Another habit is that they are pretty predictable in their diet. On most days they routinely follow the same eating pattern for their meals. They eat the same meal for breakfast every day--cereal or whatever. They might eat a salad everyday for lunch, one day with turkey in it, another day with tuna, etc. Their dinner also follows a pattern. In this way, there are fewer decisions to make, fewer opportunities to go crazy, less time obsessing about food. I think this is why we do so well on minimalist days (fast days) and have more trouble on feeding days. The longer I go between fasts (others have also said this), the more I seem to slip back into a more difficult, uncontrolled place. So, without obsessing or calorie counting, I need to find a nice framework for my non-minimalist days. Work in progress.
I really want to be in that "naturally slim" place all the time. Maybe one of these days.