Habits

We all have them! We always have. The key, I am learning, is to figure out which are healthy, which are hurtful, and which are just habits!

My healthy habits: gym daily, early bedtime, brushing teeth, healthy breakfast, saying "I love you", etc.

My just habits: pushing in all chairs, stomping my toes when I think, etc.

My hurtful habits make a longer list... I am going to focus on the food related ones today!
"Is it TIME to eat?" This is something I never really thought of until I had kids. Why do we eat at 8, 12, and 5??? What if I am hungry at 2? We should be eating smaller meals every 3ish hours... when we are hungry! I noticed after 2 weeks of trying to eat something healthy and portioned every 3ish hours, after a breakfast within an hour of waking, I am not as hungry, I have more energy, and I have started losing weight more easily. Listen to your body, and dont stuff yourself because its time.

Dish up with your EYES: I never paid much attention to serving sizes, just to how hungry I was. Even if I tried to put more veggies and stuff on my plate I ended up with way too much. I now dish up everyones plates with a measureing cup. It's convenient and realistic. No matter what I make, I start with 1/3 or 1/2 measuring cup and go from there. Rices and pastas only need one, veggie mixes, healthy soups, chilis, stews can get 2-3. After a healthy serving size and plenty of water, I can go back for a second helping of the lean meats and veggies if I am still hungry.
I also serve food and leave the bigger dishes in the kitchen! If I am waiting for my slow 5 year old eater to finish I dont want to be tempted to sit and pick at something yummy just because its there.

Clean Your Plate: I dont know how many of you grew up with this, but I always felt that my plate needed to be clean, not just the peas. I am slowly learning to slow down my pace to not finish my plate, but to satisfy my bodys needs. If I eat slower and only eat 1/2 of what is on my plate and feel good, I will drink some water and wait a few minutes. If I still feel satisfied, I package it up for a snack later in the day or even the next day. I have also learned that throwing away 2 or 3 bites will not hurt anyone. If its not enough to keep, or the dog cant eat it, etc, it IS OK to toss it! Dont be unhealthy just to satisfy some crazy notions.

Snacks: Why are snacks so unhealthy? Fast snacks are usually prepackaged sugar and/or salt and chemically packed foods that we dont need! Find stuff you like, such as sliced apples, cutie oranges, bell peppers, snap peas, celery with pb and raisins.... The list is long! And package them! They have snack size ziplock that are perfect! You can do 2-5 days at a time depending on the snack and be ready to go. Pack your lunch the night before with lots of snacks and have a breakfast set up (shake or even oatmeal) that wont take you long. I like the smoothy because I can just grab and go if we are running late.

Please add to this, or just enjoy making fun of me. :)