3 vs. 6 Meals A Day

If you're like me, unless you understand “why” you are doing something, you will find it hard to  accomplish your goal or find yourself questioning the process. In finding a new healthy lifestyle and creating new habits of health, it is important that we fully understand the science behind the idea of eating 6 time a day rather than the regular larger 3 meals a day that most of us have eaten throughout our lives. 

If you didn’t purchase Dr. A’s “Habit of Health” book I would really encourage you to add it to your next order. To be completely honest, I am a person that barely reads… besides my monthly publication of Southern Living and religious study materials. BUT - this book is worth the time, energy and effort while you work through your health journey and for being a health book it is a rather easy read and actually kinda fun to follow. 

In his book “Habits of Health”, Dr. A discusses the myth of 3 square meals and explains the science between consuming 6 fuelings a day. He shares about a study by David Jenkins, MD, PhD where researchers divided the subjects into two groups and had them both eat the same food and the same number of calories - but one group ate them in 3 meal increments and the other consumed smaller portions over the course of the day, broken into 6 meals. 

“Surprisingly, the group that ate small meals throughout the day lost more weight. It wasn’t that they were less hungry (although, in fact, they were less hungry). They lost weight because their blood sugar didn’t continually spike and then dip down to an even lower level, the way it does after a big meal. Their glycemic levels - the amount of sugar in their blood - remained steady… and their craving for sweets went down.” (pg. 62, Habits of Health)

In addition, they found that the group that ate every 3 hours reduced their blood cholesterol and blood insulin. This is key because regulating blood sugar levels means that our bodies metabolize fat in a more efficient manner and we are less likely to convert calories into body fat. Long story, short = "it's not just what you eat, it's when you eat it". Basically, by feeding/fueling the body throughout the day we are telling our bodies that it doesn’t need to cling to and store calories. In the same way, when we eat 3 larger meals, when we start to “lose fuel” our body freaks out and tries to hold onto calories and stores them as fat so that it can make it to the next destination (our next huge meal). 

This idea of “fueling the body” is huge in not only losing the pounds and reaching your healthy goal weight, but it is also an instrumental habit in maintaining our weight loss. It has helped me to visualize my body as a car… and rather than “topping off” my tank, I have learned to add the amount of fuel that is needed as I go along my journey.  This concept has helped me completely change the way that I look at food… and I trust that it will help you too. 

Pg. 62 - "Dr. A's Habits of Health"

Just do it and work it!

Have you ever had a thought that has flashed through my head numerous times and then all of a sudden it decides to stick? As if some huge mystery of life has been revealed… but in reality its practically a basic survival skills.  This past week I had an "a-ha moment" that helped me get through a rough patch…. and I am hoping that this idea might inspire some of you too. 

The past couple weeks have been rather hectic. Between some added emotional stresses and a crazy schedule I found myself returning to my old desires of carelessly eating and not taking time to plan ahead for success. I have an inside joke (with myself) and now call eating bread/pasta/chips "carb loading" - but it's no joke when you let a nibble become a meal. I just felt like laying around rather than moving and going to the gym... I even skipped my bootcamp class because I just felt too tired to get up. It was like my motivation had withered away. In just a few weeks I get to celebrate keeping 50 lbs off for an entire year... so you'd think would be motivation - but it wasn't. I was just plain old tired and wanted a vacation from life. 

Thankfully during this time of self-frustration I saw this meme and it really spoke to me and got me thinking about this health journey. In general, losing the weight and keeping it off hasn't been that hard for me - so losing motivation has been a wakeup call. Even without the gym and poor choices I didn't gain any weight - but I know that the road to a sloppy mindset only leads to disaster. 

So what do you do when you lose site of your goal... when you lose motivation? What choices do you have? 

Well, you can chose to keep going down the rocky road or head back uphill to the top of the mountain.

One of the many things that this health journey has taught me is that while I do not have control of all of the potential things that can happen to my body and my health, I do get to make the choices of what goes in my mouth and if I go to the gym. So basically I have learned the importance of taking responsibility for own my decisions when it comes to food. As with most responsibilities, it is discipline and consistency that lead to success. Discipline is based on making  calculated decisions - not just waiting for the wind to blow results my way. 

Faced with not having much motivation I had to turn on the power of discipline. This may sounds like a ridiculous "a-ha moment” but for whatever reason, in that moment I realized that motivation can only go so far… and continued success would require discipline. That night I was chatting with a new client that was planning to start the program the next morning. The last statement she made was “Well, I know this works… it’s up to me to just do it and work it.”

Yes! 

Just do it! 

Suddenly the message Nike has been implanting in my brain my entire life finally clicked. 

The next morning I got up early and went to bootcamp.  I still wasn’t necessarily motivated or feeling a deep desire to go sweat… but it sure felt great when I had finished. And thankfully it only took that 1 time and my new frame of mind to get back on track and refocused on continuing down this lifelong path of health. 

So this is my new mantra... the voice I'm planting in my head (and I challenge you to too) = "I may not always be motivated, but I can be disciplined!”

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Open Arms To Fabulous 40!

Several weeks ago I turned 40. 

4-0. 

“Over the hill.” (Whatever.)

For most of folks this has been a birthday that they have dreaded and mourned. My husband spent a week in contemplation when he wrestled with this milestone and I’ve spoken to a number of friends that are spending this year evaluating life, goals and reflection of the past. 

But not me. 

I am thrilled and excited and I guess you could say I am proud to be turning 40. 

I remember the moment like it was yesterday, sitting in my oncologists office in August of 2011 when he explained that I had a 40% chance of surviving 5 yrs. In my head what I heard was that I had a 60% chance of dying before I reached 40… and that my life would be over before it had the chance to really begin. It took a while to adjust my thinking and focus on being in the 40% of survivors… and then it became a challenge to be beat the odds. 

So - I win!

Who knows what the future holds - but for now I will wear the trophy of greying hair (under my highlights) and new wrinkles and aging spots like a medal. 

To celebrate I was able to easily convince a group of family members to meet up with me in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. It’s funny how when you mention “all-inclusive resort” and “no children”, 6 of the worlds most precious women will jump at the chance to “escape” and take a few days to simply enjoy life! 

And enjoy it we did. 

So… since what happens in Mexico stays in Mexico, I will shift this blogpost to how I did handling the food/drink portion of the trip. 

I am thankful to say that besides way too many chips that I had the 1st night, overall it wan’t hard to make wise choices. I mainly chose meat and veggie options with fruit as a treat. We did have desserts with dinner, but we chose to order several small desserts to share and each of us had a small bites so it really was in moderation. One of my older, wiser cousins taught me how to make good choices when it came to mixed drinks… so while we enjoyed ourselves, I didn’t feel knocked totally out of control and out of striving for a healthy lifestyle. 

And I need to give credit and thanks to another one of my cousins (who found awesome success on this program) and helped keep me accountable to living a life of health and good choices. When she slapped my hand reaching for chips (and told me to just put a few on my plate) I was instantly grateful for her companionship in this quest to maintain the health we had worked for. Having others support you really does mean so much in success. 

When I got home I found that I had gained 1 lb. 

Just 1 cute little pound. 

I love that learning to maintain and stay focused on health goals means that when given a chance to totally jump ship I have discovered how to enjoy life and food in a healthy balanced way. In my past, on other programs, it was this kind of environment that sent me spiraling back to frustration with myself and into the bad the habit of blaming food or the resort or even my social group for my choices. 

Friends, the process of learning to maintain our weight loss is instrumental to long term success. Each of you are working so hard toward your your “physical goals” - this is also the time to work on your “mental goals”. 

We all need to work toward:

Remembering the importance of water. 

Looking at food as fuel rather than a reward. 

Seeking support from encouragers. 

Making wise choices daily. 

Oh - and enjoying life to the fullest because it is certainly a beautiful gift!