Tara Michael Josephine

Changing your eating habits

[rehabitnow]

No wonder I’m hungry!!

Apparently the internet didn’t know better then my doc?!

Maybe I’m hungry, because I’m hungry?! Strange thought. [yes, sarcasm]. So, I looked it up. I downloaded app after app, entered my data into online calculators, looked up what various point-based diets suggested for me.... and in general I’m suppose to eat ~1400 cals (based on my height, age, daily and daily activities) in order to lose 1-2 lbs/week. I knew that. And I try and try and try to stick to that — even being generous enough to go up to 1600 calories — but I suffer a severe and unrelenting lust to shovel junk food into my gullet.

So... I see the doc. He performs a scientific measurement of my body composition (muscle mass, water volume, fat etc ...), and determines that I require ~1500 calories/day as my BMI. 1500 if I did absolutely nothing but blink all day?!!!! What???????

And if my basic caloric needs are only 60% of my requirements, that means I need 2500 calories. Daily. As in everyday.

No wonder I’m frkn hungry!?!

[rehabitnow]

This. This this this and then this again!!! “Sow a thought”... just think, deeply and provocatively, about what you truly want. You can’t want to eat junk food and think you can resist forever. You need to want to eat healthily. And have to NOT want junk in the first place. “Reap and action”... take the teeniest, tinyest, babyist step towards that goal. And then celebrate. “Sow and act”... do that thing that gets you there. And then do it again. And then again. One, little, step, at a time. It’s ok. You’ve got this. Small actions are easy. Own it. Repeat. “Reap a habit”.... repeat the little steps. Make the new way familiar. Make the little actions repeatable. Repeat with thought. Then repeat without thought. Make it a habit. “Reap a character”... this is just how you do it now. This is just who you are now. This, is me. Say it. Live it. Love it. “Reap the destiny”... and that’s how the goal is achieved. But you can’t start here ... you have to start with the teeniest, tinyest, ittibittyest act. Go for it. I’ll be here to help.

[rehabitnow]

Omnivore

I eat meat. I eat meat because I’m an omnivore. I was born this way and there’s nothing you, or I, can do to change that. NO AMOUNT OF MEAT-EATER SHAMING CAN CHANGE THAT. And I don’t want to change. I want to be me.

So I stand strong, and use my meat-fuelled body to be confident and proud of who I am and where I’ve come from.

For a while I identified myself as Carnivore but then I realized that I also liked vegetables; you know, on the side. Cuz of the nutrition, and the fibre, and stuff. So that made me realized that Im truly an omnivore. And that’s ok.

I also enjoy nuts and seeds and fruit and eggs and cheese. I find old cheese really enjoyable with fermented grapes. Once again, Omnivore. And Proud.

Proud to be an Omni.

#omnivores #meat #vegetables #carnivore #nutrition #diet #wine #cheese

[rehabitnow]

If I could only stop this nattering lust for stuffing my face!!

Today I experienced a hunger of a different kind. Physically, I felt full. Within my being, I just wanted to keep eating. Like, I wanted to stuff my face with anything, everything! So I checked the calendar and yes, this was a predictable low-energy/starch-craving repeating pattern. Not fun. Not cool.

My licorice addiction is real!! It’s been one week since my last confession. I have been licorice-sober for 5 days. And it was a force to be reckoned with today. All day. That nagging, nattering, bullish craving to eat (licorice Plus many other bad foods) with ferocity.

But I persevered!! Knowing if I could control (im)patience then I could probably persuade the appetite. I tried everything! A small snack that included protein, multiple glasses of water, a tea, a bullet proof coffee, fibre pills, a breathing/meditation exercise, and finally a bubble bath with a book (unfortunately the book was very boring but at least I wasn’t eating!!). As I lay in bed (very early to avoid the TV-munchies), I still feel the urge to eat. But I won’t. I mustn’t. I simply have to break the cycle. Wish me luck!

[rehabitnow]

It’s so filling!

I don’t think I’ve said that very often in my life. (hence this mission to investigate and win my hunger conundrum). BUT .... this morning I did. And I meant it. Like, I had breakfast at 8am and it’s 1pm and I’m still not hungry.

What did I eat? Coffee. 

And you say, ‘but you can’t EAT coffee!’.  And I say, ‘but I kinda did.’

I had a 310cal coffee this morning. Its called a Bulletproof Coffee (if you subscribe to the Bulletproof diet), or a Rocket coffee, or Coffee Fuel, or Buttered Coffee... whatever you want to call it, here is the ingredients:

Brewed Hot coffee 2 tbsp of butter 1 tbsp of MCT Oil  Stevia

Whip it up in a blender or use a frother and Voila! It’s a creamy, foamy, delicious breakfast. (I call it Breakfast because its a full 300+ calorie drink.) And it made me so full that 5 hours later I still don’t feel like eating.

More please. I’m starting to enjoy this “full feeling”. It’s as if I’m just not hungry. Again, something I don’t think I’ve said very often. 

[rehabitnow]

Hunger says eat now!!

Maybe it’s not hunger that gets me into eating trouble but rather IMPATIENCE + hunger.

I’m starting to get comfortable waiting for an appropriate hunger level but I lose the food-choice battle when I’m out of patience.

“Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.” Someone wise said this... maybe Buddha?

So maybe this is what I need to learn. Patience, and the good attitude part.

The question is HOW!? How to not be hangry? Let’s see where this goes.

#rehabitnow #hungry #hangry #health #food #goodeating #vegetables #diet #patience

[rehabitnow]

Vegetables are high-maintenance !

Don’t you love health videos that have all their ingredients ready in beautiful little piles and they say ‘See! Eating healthy is fast and easy.’ Um... fuck you. I mean, go suck on a mushroom. I mean, thanks! that’s great inspiration.

If you’re following, you know that I’m trying to increase my veggies (without increasing my hunger). So, I added minced veggies to my tomato sauce. Adding the veggies did only take a few seconds but the washing, peeling, slicing, dicing, mincing, sweeping the floor (cuz those tiny bits get everywhere), and then cleaning the stove top (did I mention those tiny bits get everywhere?!), wiping down the cutting board and then washing the peeler, the big knife, the little knife and the frying pan that I used to brown all the ingredients before transferring everything into the slow cooker —took almost an hour.

The reality here? Vegetables are high maintenance. And let’s face it ... who has time for that!?! We’re busy!! Especially if we’re busy AND hungry?!? Pretty sure this means I’m going to explore ways to eat more veggies without the labor.

Make it easy to be better, right?

[rehabitnow]

Is this what full feels like?

Exploring hunger to manage eating

I’ve heard great benefits about cardio during a fast so I thought I would try. This is my 2nd attempt at exploring hungry through fasting.

The first sign of hunger came 30 minutes into my hour of cardio. Ten minutes later I felt like I could go on forever; like I’d hit my stride.

I finished up and then headed home. Knowing about my trigger (walk through the door and I instantly want to eat) I knew I needed a plan. I patiently had a shower, got ready for the day, and then drank a protein shake.

The impact was outstanding! I felt full. Like, full-stop FULL full. No lingering hunger, no munchies or cravings ... just full.

I’m guessing this is what normal people with normal appetites must feel like after they eat. Cuz this?! This isn’t my normal reality. And I like it. No, I LOVE it. Like I could say, ‘no thanks, I don’t want anything else,’ and actually mean it. I have no interest in standing in front of the pantry having an internal battle that I’m not suppose to eat, but can’t stop thinking about eating.

I. Feel. Full. Game changer.

[rehabitnow]

But I’m hungry!!

Exploring hunger

Best way to conquer something is to get familiar with it. So the best way to learn about hunger is to get hungry. I keep hearing about intermittent fasting so I figure that’s my best route.

8:45am:

First sign of hunger since the start of my fast. I’m drinking black coffee and messing around with my phone (read: sedentary). If I really had to describe what this feels like, I’d have to say ‘pressure’. I’m going to get moving so I can distract myself.

9:25am:

My hunger disappeared for a bit while I was getting ready to leave the house. It was only when I was in the truck (and still again) that it came back. It felt grumbly. And since I’ve decided that I’m not eating until supper I was trying to wave off the feeling by not thinking about it.

That’s when I realized that I was trying not to be hungry. My usual response is an immediate ‘what am I eating? Where? How?’. My usual response might actually nurture my hunger. This time I didn’t want to be hungry. Maybe deep down I like hunger because it gives me an excuse (a valid excuse!) to eat. Interesting.

12:56

I’m a little hungry now that I’m back home from spending the morning outside in the fresh air. This is the first chance I’ve had to drink some water though. I’ll have water and a tea and see if that helps. Have to say - this is a lot easier then I expected. And not at all intolerable.

1:28

I ate. Just 34 minutes ago I thought I had it nailed but from the moment I got home all I could think about was food. That’s when I realized that walking into the house is my trigger.

I don’t mind falling a little short on my fast (I’m pretty happy that I made it 20 out of 24 hrs. 83% success is a win by my standards.) but I’m more then elated that it revealed a bad habit. Walking in the house is a big eating trigger and a habit that I can start to change.

REHABIT: my ‘I walk in the door - I eat’ habit.

[rehabitnow]

Hungry? Eat.

But how much?

Maybe I’m hungry because I’m hungry!? How much should I eat? How do I know I’m not just starving myself and that’s why I’m always hungry??

An app told me to eat 1400 calories/day. So I tried. And failed to even survive one full day. After spending some money on a high-tech fancy-shmancy medically-supervised body-analysis, turns out that I need at least 1500 cals just to cover my basic living requirements (like breathing and blinking). Ok. So that makes sense why I’m hungry.

So now I eat between 1850 and 2200 cals/day. That’s a hell of a lot more then 1400! But I still get hungry!?! This has to change. Join me as I explore hunger (despite eating enough!!).

[rehabitnow]

Vegetables make me hungry!!

​I used to love eating a tuna sandwiches with carrot sticks and a glass of milk for lunch. Within 20 minutes I’d be hungry. This was my normal. One day I ran out of carrots. After eating just the sandwich and milk, I was full for hours. It made no sense. More calories made me hungry and less calories made me full?! So I stopped eating carrots.

And then it was celery. And then I cut out cucumbers. And then I quit broccoli. One by one I stopped eating vegetables. Deep down I knew that was wrong so I unwillingly brought them all back; along with the obnoxious hunger.

Now that I’m on a mission to make peace with hunger, I need a way to make my vegetables fill me up. Thing is, veggies are mostly water and fibre. For some people, occupying the physical stomach space with low-calorie and large-volume foods helps them feel full. In my world, I just feel bloated but empty.

So, I’m going to keep the veggies (I want the nutrition and fibre), but prepare them so they don’t make me hungry. That’s means roasting the veggies (with added oil), made into soups (with bone broths), as salads but with heavier dressings (seeds and add ins), and added into sauces or curries. I want dense bites packed full of veggie nutrition without the empty volume. Let’s see where that takes me.

[rehabitnow]

Killing the hunger beast!

I’m on a spiteful journey to kill my hunger beast so I can move on with my life, my healthy eating program, and my fitness goals. Hunger is the jerk that holds me back. No more excuses. I’m confronting my nemesis so he can’t control me anymore. well... ‘control in a mean and negative way’.