When eating a meal, is it better to add a nutritious item to the meal even if you are not hungry for it, or simply not eat the nutritious item and wait until you are hungry for it. Consider that I have the goals of eating more healthy and losing weight. What has worked for you?
Example: I am having a slice of toast and a glass of milk for breakfast. That is all I am really hungry for. I see a banana on the counter. I like bananas. Is it a better eating healthy/weight loss strategy to eat the banana to create a more complete and healthy breakfast or wait till 10 or 10:30 when I might be hungry?
Example 2: I am having a sandwich and a few pita chips for lunch. I feel pretty good. I see some green bean leftovers in the fridge (which I like). I see some carrot sticks (which I like). I see some grapes (which I like). Should I go out of my way to eat one of those healthy items, even if I am not feeling hungry for them at that time? Should my goal be to try to eat a complete (nutrition) meal every time I eat?
This might seem like a silly question, but I actually have to make this decision frequently. My wife (who eats healthy) has lots of healthy things for us to eat.
Nutrition boils down to what you eat over a week, say, rather than every individual meal. If you are trying to lose fat, ideally you exercise a little more and eat a little more wisely. If eating healthy, you are more likely to have the right to eat bigger amounts.
If eating is enjoyable, you are more likely to stick to it for a longer period. To me, this means eating healthy foods you enjoy. Providing you eat them. If not hungry for them, avoid eating unhealthy foods.
I know people who eat the same thing every day. Easy. I would not enjoy that. For a long time, I made the mistake of buying and tossing foods I should be eating but do not love. Better to avoid unhealthy stuff you will polish off immediately, and buy the healthy foods you also like.
It’s not a silly question; changing eating habits is hard! There is probably no one-size-fits-all answer, but my suggestion would be to incorporate the healthy food you want to eat into your overall meal plan without increasing your food intake.
So, in example 1, maybe have the milk and banana but skip the toast. (If that will give you the appropriate amount of calories.) Or if you are buttering the toast heavily, add just a smidge of butter and eat the banana.
In example 2, have half a sandwich and some green beans and carrots.
(I’m not a dietician or medical expert, just speaking as a lay person who loves food.)
I think in general, eating less is better than eating more. Don’t add food to your meal, substitute food into your meal. Green beans are better than grapes which are better than pita chips which are better than potato chips. So don’t have pita chips, have grapes or green beans.
Forcing yourself to eat a banana or vegetable you don’t want isn’t going to help you loose weight, unless they’re taking the place of something else. Having a banana for an afternoon snack instead of a bag of chips is good. Adding a banana to the bag of chips doesn’t help.
None of this is easy, if it was people wouldn’t weigh any more than they want to.
My experience successfully dieting and those of other people I know is that you should
- Pre-plan meals and snacks
- Don’t eat if you’re not hungry (stuff in the plan can be eaten later in the day)
- Definitely don’t choose to eat something extra (unplanned) when you are hungry.
If you have a breakfast plan of milk, banana, and toast, and you aren’t hungry for the banana until an hour or two later, whatever. Eat it then. If you have a breakfast plan of milk and toast and then you get hungry at 11 and eat that banana, might as well not waste your time planning your food.
As a successful deliberate eater for over a decade after 50 years of practice of being a “see-food” eater, I heartily endorse @echoreply and @iamthewalrus_3 just above.
Eating “healthy” is about removing junk and replacing it with good stuff. Losing weight is about eating less, and maintaining enough exercise to keep the metabolism from entering “Oh gosh I’m starving” mode.
Put the two together and you have “Remove all the junk and put in a smidgen of good to replace a smidgen of the junk.” All deliberately chosen using your logical nutritionally-educated mind, not your emotions, and definitely not your random impulses.