Day 2: The Intuitive Eating Adventure
Indian curry quinoa bowl
Okay, once again: you've got my play-by-play up top and my takeaways written down below. Scroll at-will.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Woke up around 8am (love working from home) and felt very, very slow. Asked my body if it was hungry. It seemed neutral. The idea of a smoothie sounded good, but not critical. But it also felt like too much work. This begs the question: who is in charge here? My body or my brain? I didn't make myself coffee until 9am, at which point I went online and started looking up hair colors I like, wondering if I could pull off a single-process platinum situation. That killed about 20 minutes and then I start tackling actual work. By 10am, I notice a slight rumbling in the tum-area. "Is this what hunger feels like?" I wonder as I sip some coffee. Honestly, this whole exchange with myself is alarming. Because I literally think my unwillingness to get off my ass and into the kitchen is stronger than my actual, very real hunger. *knock knock, this is your body, make yourself something to F-ing eat please.* Finally, I'm like: yeah, I should probably put something in my bod. I'm pretty sure this whole stomach feeling empty thing is a sign it needs nourishment of some kind. I struggle with the whole "what do I WANT to eat, though?" thing. So I settle on a smoothie and make my way to the kitchen. BUT WAIT: As I enter the kitchen, smoothie in mind, something feels off. I look at the stovetop and think to myself, "do I want scrambled eggs?" As the thought lands, it feels as though my insides start dancing a jig: "yes please! make me some eggies!" It's a little aggressive with the enthusiasm, frankly. Wow, I think to myself. Let's go with this egg idea, I guess. I make the two eggs in less than 3 minutes. Arguably faster than smoothie prep time. I'm very proud of myself for this last-minute swap. After the eggs, I ask my body if it feels full. It sure does. Success! I'm starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of this thing.
One Hour Later...
I started to feel the hunger pangs again. This time I listened before waiting too long. "Smoothie time?" Smoothie time. Shortly after inhaling this smoothie I notice my stomach feeling "off." It's got that anxious vibe going on. Is this hunger? Is this stress? I don't understand. Is something in the smoothie not sitting right? I feel like it might be anxiety... but I decide to take note in case it happens again (post-smoothie).
Two Hours Later...
I decide I should let myself choose ANYTHING within driving distance for lunch, just to see if I'm feeling too limited by what I have at home. I choose an Indian curry quinoa bowl from Cafe Gratitude. It's indulgent to say the least (like the most expensive rice bowl ever), but it kept popping up when asking myself "what would really nourish you?" so I figure I'll see how I feel when I eat it, and if it's a winner I can always try to replicate it on my own in the future. I'm not a big grain person but the idea of quinoa has stuck with me for the last 24 hours, so let's give it a shot. After lunch, I think about it — I definitely felt full, but in a good way. I was a little bloated, but it wasn't in the uncomfortable way, more just a "you literally just ate something, so obviously you will look a little bloated" way. It felt pretty good. Maybe incorporating some quinoa into the mix for lunches isn't a bad idea.
Three Hours After That...
It's been a whole THREE HOURS since I've eaten? This is the longest I've gone without a hunger cue, but that makes sense, considering that grain bowl was HUGE. Around 4:30 I start feeling like I could potentially eat something. A snack. But what!? Ugh, this is hard. I run through the options: nuts, leftovers from last night, kale, strawberries, oranges, bananas, chocolate, tortillas, plantain chips... and I land on an orange. By 5pm, I'm peeling it as I finish up the work day.
One Hour Later...
My tum was like, "wassup?" So I heated up some leftovers from the night before. I think I'm learning that in some cases, my body won't tell me exactly what to eat (eggplant! pickles on toast!) but it will tell me what kinds of foods it's yearning for (protein! fruit!) so I figure my chicken and veggie dish from the previous night will suffice. I wanted something hearty and whole. I had two servings leftover. And I ate ALL of it. Because I was really feeling hungry by the time I got to it, but also because if I ate exactly what I needed, there would be such a small amount left it wouldn't have made a full meal for anyone. But I guess I should have just saved it as a snack instead of eating it in one sitting. I learned my lesson to be more mindful of that next time. After dinner I snagged a single chocolate covered almond—not because my body was telling me to, but because it was staring at me and looked good and I kind of felt like I wanted the palate cleanser. 🤷🏼♀️
HERE'S WHAT I ACTUALLY ATE TODAY:
9am: coffee 10am: two eggs, scrambled 11am: almond milk / collagen smoothie 1:30pm: quinoa Indian Curry bowl (with red lentil dal, yams, mint chutney, tomato jam, and spinach) 5pm: orange 6:30pm: chicken and veggies and shirataki noodles (two servings, phew) Water count: 50+ ounces plus a few sparkling waters, but do those count?
TAKEAWAYS:
I feel like I am obsessing over food slightly more than usual, because I'm constantly checking in with myself and essentially journaling about it, but this feels like a phase. As I get better at it, I suspect I'll be able to follow my intuitive cues without thinking too much about it — and that will feel like true freedom from the "diet" lifestyle.
I have a hard time letting food go to "waste" — I could have stopped eating dinner a little sooner (and ended up feeling bloated and too full) but there was an awkward amount left. If I ate what I needed, the leftovers would have been so pointless. I just have to remember it's still worth saving them as a snack, rather than stuffing them down when I don't want them.
I'm learning that (at this point) I'm better at picking up which food groups my body needs (protein, etc) rather than exactly which foods it needs. This takes a little bit of the pressure off, if I don't have what I'm craving in the house. Baby steps.
I am NOT craving lettuce or spinach or leafy greens in any way, which is interesting because lately I've been trying to squeeze more of that into my diet. Does this mean I don't need it? Or is it because I still find myself craving "warm" over "colder" food temps? Who knows.
I'm impressed I'm not really getting any late-night cravings. Not sure what that's about.
It's all a process. Until tomorrow!