Are You Eating Enough??

Posted By Josephine

A common theme I see with clients is struggling with feeling out of control with foods in the evenings.

Often feeling unable to make clear decisions about what to eat, eating quickly or feeling unsatisfied and wanting more after a balanced dinner. This is a theme that I see in clients who struggle with emotional driven eating and binge eating and in those who don’t.

Sometimes we can have the eating behaviour under control and there is still a drive to eat more that people feel uncomfortable about.

Evenings are hard:

we are tired
hangry
exhausted from holding it together all day and feeling over come with emotions and anxiety
we may be exhausted from looking after family and children all day
stressed from work and trying to shift to parent mode
struggling to switch off from work and continuing to work
struggling to relax

The biggest trigger I find is that people are not eating enough during the day. This may be for a range of reasons, being busy, distracted, not prepared and not having access to food.

The biggest surprise for clients is how much they need to eat to fuel their body and satisfy their hunger during the day.

Diet culture and a history of dieting can leave people so confused and disconnected to their body that they have lost touch with what a normal amount is.

It is normal to have a large balanced breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and multiple snacks during the day.
It is normal to need more when you are working as your using your brain more which needs lots of carbohydrates to operate at it optimum.
It is normal to need more some days than others.
It is normal to need to eat more than one snack in the afternoon if you have a large gap between Lunch a dinner. When people are busy and commuting there maybe a 6-8-hour gap!
It is ok if fruit is not enough to satisfy your hunger and you need more.

So, if you are feeling overwhelmed or out of control in the evenings maybe reflect on what you are having during the day; are you having enough?

Snack ideas:

Fruit and yoghurt
Vegetable sticks and dip and crackers
Crackers ad cheese
Tuna and crackers
Muesli bard
Toast
Scrolls/ scones/ muffin
Milk drinks – hot choc/ chai/ smoothies/ milk shake
Leftovers
Sushi Handrolls
Cereal
Toast / crumpet/ muffins
Peanut butter and apple or celery
Nuts/ dried fruit/ trail mix
Pretzels / rice crackers / popcorn
Shapes/ delights/ other flavoured crackers
Canned fruit and yoghurt
Chocolate
Raisin toast/ hot cross bun
Bread and dip
Biscuits
Cake/ fruit cake

All

Are you eating enough?

A common theme I see with clients is struggling with feeling out of control with foods in the evenings.

Often feeling unable to make clear decisions about what to eat, eating quickly or feeling unsatisfied and wanting more after a balanced dinner. This is a theme that I see in clients who struggle with emotional driven eating and binge eating and in those who don’t.

Sometimes we can have the eating behaviour under control and there is still a drive to eat more that people feel uncomfortable about.

Evenings are hard:

we are tired

hangry

exhausted from holding it together all day and feeling over come with emotions and anxiety

we may be exhausted from looking after family and children all day

stressed from work and trying to shift to parent mode

struggling to switch off from work and continuing to work

struggling to relax

The biggest trigger I find is that people are not eating enough during the day. This may be for a range of reasons, being busy, distracted, not prepared and not having access to food.

The biggest surprise for clients is how much they need to eat to fuel their body and satisfy their hunger during the day.

Diet culture and a history of dieting can leave people so confused and disconnected to their body that they have lost touch with what a normal amount is.

It is normal to have a large balanced breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and multiple snacks during the day.

It is normal to need more when you are working as your using your brain more which needs lots of carbohydrates to operate at it optimum.

It is normal to need more some days than others.

It is normal to need to eat more than one snack in the afternoon if you have a large gap between Lunch a dinner. When people are busy and commuting there maybe a 6-8-hour gap!

It is ok if fruit is not enough to satisfy your hunger and you need more.

So, if you are feeling overwhelmed or out of control in the evenings maybe reflect on what you are having during the day; are you having enough?

Snack ideas:

Fruit and yoghurt

Vegetable sticks and dip and crackers

Crackers ad cheese

Tuna and crackers

Muesli bard

Toast

Scrolls/ scones/ muffin

Milk drinks – hot choc/ chai/ smoothies/ milk shake

Leftovers

Sushi Handrolls

Cereal

Toast / crumpet/ muffins

Peanut butter and apple or celery

Nuts/ dried fruit/ trail mix

Pretzels / rice crackers / popcorn

Shapes/ delights/ other flavoured crackers

Canned fruit and yoghurt

Chocolate

Raisin toast/ hot cross bun

Bread and dip

Biscuits

Cake/ fruit cake