I've been eating a lot of carbs. Not really purposely, but more or less because I'm always hungry after meals (especially dinner) and I thought it'd be better to eat a baked potato with one meal, or spaghetti with GF noodles, or tonight, Stir Fry with rice. It does make me fuller after the meal, but usually, it's too full.
When I ate the baked potato, it made me feel like I'd eaten way too much. To be fair, it was quite a large potato. But also, it made me lose the feeling of a clear mind that being only satiated can bring. It made me feel a little more sluggish and sleepy. Not a whole lot, mind you, but enough that I noticed it. And I hardly wanted to move after eating because I felt so full.
I kind of wanted to talk about carbs today. Yes, I am still eating carbs, but I am trying to keep them to a minimum. I know they make me overeat and I'm really trying to control that response. However, I've had carb-y vegetables and rice the past 3 days with at least one meal. I for one, feel like that's too often for me. I need to get back to the place I was before. When I said I would only have rice/GF pasta/ potatoes once a week, I meant it. It's hard, but in the long run, I think it'll make a world of difference.
I want to put in a disclaimer here that just because I am cutting back on carbs, that doesn't mean that's right for everyone. Some people won't be able to digest fat as well, and may have to rely more heavily on carbs than other people. This is completely fine. As long as you are listening to your body and responding to your needs, you'll be well off.
I have found that I rely too heavily on carbs to fill me up. Instead of making the meal about the fat or protein, I make it about the carbs. A lot of the time (when eating a standard diet) I make the carbs the main proponent, not even stopping to think if I'd need more protein, or if more fat would fill me up better.
Spaghetti gets this treatment all the time. Last night I measured myself 1/2 cup of GF noodles and put it on my plate to realize that 1/2 cup is not that much! But I ate it and tried to feel full enough from just that. I even put extra meat and sauce on my serving because I thought that might help. NOPE. Apparently not. Because I went back for more. Only this time, I measured out 1/2 cup, thought it was too little, and just got my regular amount. (Which was probably around 1 1/2 cups.)
I was thinking about how much I would actually get (before Primal), and it'd probably have been something like 6 servings! Which sounds crazy, but if you think about it, I'd fill my plate up, heap some spaghetti sauce onto that gigantic mound of noodles, and then after that, go back in for more! And when a plate can hold near 3 servings, it's not hard to rack up some serious calories, especially going back for seconds.
But since I'm doing Primal, I can't really do that anymore. (I mean, I could, but I don't want to fall back into that bad habit.) So I have to find new ways to keep myself from overeating. With things traditionally served over noodles or rice, I could always measure out how much I can have and split it in half. That way I can still go back for "seconds" but I'm only eating a predefined amount. And I can load up on the topping, instead of the carbs, and have a salad with it or something to munch on when I inevitably want more. And then the rest is up to me to stop myself from just getting however much I want.
So that's what I'm dealing with. Anybody else have problems with avoiding overeating carbs?
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For food today, I ate pretty well. I had to get up earlier than I have been (10 a.m. most mornings) to go to class. I knew I'd be in class around lunchtime, so I tried to eat something that would settle my stomach (I was nervous for my first day of class) and that would fill me up enough. So I ate some Noosa yoghurt. I didn't have any strawberries so I cut up half a banana and stuck it in there. It was okay, nothing revolutionary.
By the time I got home I was starving, but I didn't feel like making any meat, and it was almost 2 p.m. so I made some broth with bouillon cubes and spices. Again, okay. I was really tempted to make rice, but I talked myself out of it, as we were having it tonight for dinner. Instead I ate a cheese stick, half a frozen banana (which was really good btw! I recommend it highly. It's nice and sweet and cold, kind of like a banana popsicle.) and a couple pieces of beef jerky. We're going to have to make some more of it soon! We're running out.
Side note: Does anyone else feel like beef jerky should only be eaten one or two pieces at a time? I always think of it as this "luxury" food, and only allow myself to eat like, two pieces a day. I think it's because it's so expensive when you buy it, and they give you so little in the package. It's like a rare treat! But it's actually so easy to make in a dehydrator.
For dinner, I made Stir Fry with carrots and broccoli and chicken. I made rice too, and it seems like I had a lot of rice. Though I only ever make 2 cups for the three of us, so it comes out to about 2/3 cup each. Still, it's more than a serving.
I only had a handful of cashews later in the night, a couple hours after dinner. I didn't really get hungry.
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Let me know if you have trouble with portions! We will get through it together! Retrain our brains and whatnot! 😄
Stay Groovy ✌
Sam
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