Do Something Challenge, Day 4

Day 4.  How you guys doing?

I'm feeling better, achiness-wise, today.  Not sure if that's because last yoga practice was yesterday in the morning or what...  but I will take it.  :)

I found this morning I woke up early, well rested and ready to go, and even got dishes and laundry done before work.  Just did my work shift and picked kiddos up, and have a yoga class I'll need to leave for in about an hour.  It's one of the harder classes, like Tuesday was, and I'm looking forward to it.

Should be a good night!

But today, on a slightly different subject, I've been having thoughts about our food choices during our little experiment here.  We might not feel very full if we eat a lot of junk foods, and there is a good reason for that.  This image shows why that might be.  If we are eating vegetables and fruits, it doesn't take so much of it to fill our stomachs up.  It breaks down to fewer calories per meal, naturally, but we feel full and are satisfied.

The fried foods take up less space but offer up themselves in larger calorie portions, which doesn't work out so well for us.  It might be time to start thinking about what foods we are eating and how that is affecting us.

Keep in mind, what you put in your body is fuel for your work out.  Vegetables, fruits, grains, and easy to absorb proteins are your friend.  The more of those, the better!  If you're going to eat meats, try and keep them lean and in reasonable portion sizes.

Portion control is a big thing for me.  If I am not careful, I can eat twice what I really need to live on.  Eat to live, not live to eat!  Try taking a small portion, eating that, then waiting to see what your body says.  If you are still hungry after 5-10 minutes, have another small portion, but try to take it easy.

Our stomachs are only meant to be about the size of our fists.  If we are constantly filling our plates and eating all of that, how much space must that take up?  We often eat twice what an appropriate portion is, without thinking.  Packaged foods are too big for one person if you use the fist as a guide.  Quick foods and fast foods certainly are.

It is hard to retrain our bodies to know what a proper portion is, but it's essential to eating right and getting our bodies to a happy healthy state.  Next time you make yourself a plate of food, think about the amounts.  It will take time, and you might be a little hungrier at first since your body thinks it needs what you have been giving it...  but give it a try.  It's worth the effort.  Really!  :)

Anyway, it's food for thought, no pun intended.  I will make up a nice little list for you of good documentaries to watch on the subject of food.  I'm a bit of a documentary nut, and am happy to peruse these things for you.  :)

Anyway, gotta go get kids ready for the pool, and get laundry moving again.  A mother's job is never done, as they say!  :)