When John and I were on our getaway last week, we stopped for lunch one day at Chick-Fil-A. Since I'm trying to be "good" and eat healthy (since I'm not back to running as much as I'd like and so I need to be a little bit more careful about what I eat), I ordered the kids' meal with grilled chicken nuggets (so good!), the fruit cup, and low fat chocolate milk.
When I sat down to eat and looked at my meal, my first thought was "this will never fill me up." It didn't look like much food and I was really hungry.
When I finished, I was comfortably full and very happy I'd stuck with the kids' meal.
Yeah, me! :o)
And it was enough.
This experience got me thinking.
How often do I underestimate how much food I really need to eat? It's easy to over-eat, whether you're eating out or eating at home. Our eyes can play funny tricks on us and make us think that the healthy-sized portions we've put on our plate or ordered from the menu will not be enough to make us feel full and happy.
And it's really easy to get caught up in meal-time conversations and not pay attention to what we're eating.
Another night on our getaway we ate at Golden Corral. We couldn't decide on where to eat, we didn't want to travel very far, and Golden Corral was right there in front of us.
Sometimes going to a buffet is not a good idea if you're trying to be "good." But going to a buffet can be a good thing if you're very careful about what and how much you eat.
I started out with a plate of salad and fresh fruit. Then I got some lean un-breaded meat and cooked vegetables. And since there were two cakes on the dessert bar that looked really good (and we were on vacation, after all!), I only took less than a half a slice of each. And I didn't even eat all of both less-than-half slices.
Sometimes we really only need a bite or two of something to take care of the craving we're having.
And even though our parents always told us to clean our plates because of the children in other parts of the world who were starving, we don't need to clean our plates. Really. Nothing bad will happen. And it is kind of a good feeling to leave some food on your plate. Or maybe that's just me.
When eating out, try to order less food than you think you'll eat. Or ask for the to-go box when your food is brought to you and put half in the box before you eat. Or share with a friend. Or really pay attention to what you're eating and only eat half and take the rest home. It is fun to take food home to enjoy the next day!
And although we might want to eat very little during the day if we know we're eating out that night, sometimes this plan can backfire and we end up eating too much because we're so hungry (yep. I did that Saturday night). Especially since it's harder to know what we're actually eating (calorie-wise) when we're eating out.
Another trick when you're eating at home is to use a smaller plate. That way you trick your eyes into thinking there is more food on the plate than there really is because the plate looks full. And for some reason, we like to have our plates look full. A not-so-full plate looks like we're depriving ourselves, and who likes to feel deprived?
Sometimes we have to be a little bit tricky when it comes to feeding these wonderful bodies we've been blessed with. :o)
*Image courtesy of Microsoft Clipart Gallery
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