Did you know that our bodies stop burning calories exactly two hours before we go to sleep? Mmm hmm, they sure do. And I bet you weren’t aware of the fact that eating fat will make us fat either…
😆 😆 😆
Sorry, I just couldn’t keep a straight face. But in all seriousness, I’m willing to bet that the majority of us have fallen victim to food myths like those at one point or another, accepting them as truths that went on to dictate how and what we ate. Don’t be ashamed to admit it – I’m guilty too. Among a plethora of other silly myths, I used to be absolutely convinced that anything I ate after dinner would spitefully make it’s way down to my butt or thighs while I slept, and fat was something I avoided like the plague – convinced that both would ultimately lead to my demise.
Thankfully, time and experience have taught me better, and I’ve gone on to replace the myth-based food rules with some that work a lot better for me…
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Going to bed hungry is never an option…
I went into a lot more detail about this here, but I basically used to force myself to fall asleep hungry because I was afraid to eat too late at night. It was horrible – if I actually managed to fall asleep, I would wake up repeatedly through the night to the sound of my grumbling stomach. These days I always eat before bed, no matter what time it is. 9, 10, 1 AM… any time, and any thing is fair game. No carbs before bed is as silly as no food before bed…
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Food is not a number…
Calories, carbs, fat, protein… it seems as though we’ve lost sight of the true essence of eating and turned it into a science, full of numbers, equations, ratios, and calculations. I regret the day I learned about calories, and I’m doing my best to make my way back to that ignorant, or at least indifferent, state where a banana is simply a banana.
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Yogurt (or anything else for that matter) shall never be fat free…
I used to only buy 0% yogurt, skim milk, low fat cheese, light dressing, etc., but now that I’ve seen the beauty that is full fat everything, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back. Not only is it richer, creamier, and far more luxurious feeling, but it tastes so much better and leaves me far more satisfied than non-fat ever did. Don’t fear the fat, people!
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If you don’t like it, don’t eat it…
I don’t even want to think about some of the things that I choked down in the name of health because I’d like to keep my appetite in tact, thank you very much. I bought into a lot of the hype surrounding superfoods and nutritional powerhouses, trying to sneak them into my diet any time I could in an effort to reduce my chance of developing cancer by 0.7% and increase my life by 2.4 years, but I just can’t do it anymore. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ll never like green in my smoothies or chia seeds in any form… and that’s okay. I’m still healthy.
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Veggies for dinner are entirely optional…
I used to believe that sweet, breakfasty meals were only allowed at breakfast – lunch and dinners had to be savory and had to have a healthy helping of veggies. No more. Breakfast for dinner? Breakfast for lunch? I’m a big fan.
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Cravings shall be satisfied appropriately…
Carrots will never satisfy a cookie craving, and neither yogurt nor banana “soft serve” will ever come close to the deliciousness that is real ice cream. I’ve stuffed myself sick with “safe” alternatives in an effort to satisfy my “naughty” cravings, and came to the conclusion that… it doesn’t work. Better to eat and enjoy the real thing, and move on.
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There’s always room for dessert…
True story. No matter how full I am, my stomach will always find somewhere to put dessert. I used to believe that dessert was completely unnecessary, since it wasn’t nourishing my body in any way, but the nourishment that it gives my mind is perhaps even more important so you won’t find me passing on it these days.
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No combination of flavors is ever too strange…
Remember this? Or this? Or even this? I’m definitely no stranger when it comes to “interesting” food combinations… but the way I see it, it all gets mixed up in your stomach anyways, so you might as well hit as many cravings as you can before it goes down.
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There’s no such thing as too much watermelon…
Well, maybe there is… but I’m not willing to admit it just yet…
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Hunger shall always be honored…
Whether it means having lunch at 10:30 in the morning or a snack at 1 AM, I never force myself to go hungry in an effort to eat less throughout the day. Hunger is misery, and dragging it out takes away from our ability to enjoy our life… Better to honor it and move on to something else.
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What are some of your food rules?
Have you ever fallen victim to any food myths? Are there some you still have trouble letting go of?
Yay!! I love this so much! Thank you Amanda!! 🙂 🙂
My daughter who’s is turning 3 in a week has this knack for laying in bed 30 minutes then getting restless legs and says she hungry! As you could imagine paranoia sets in for me. Slowly but surely I’m remembering that a child knows how to eat better than I do.
The Lord is certainly teaching me how to eat and live naturally through my daughter’s habits. Eat when hungry stop when full cry till you get your craving satisfied, sure it’s with discretion but still.. .
it’s a beautiful thing to watch her slowly enjoy her food. Not obsess over it. Get Her Energy From it, And Play Hard Until She’s Hungry again.
Because of my lack of nutrition I’ve been missing a lot of the signs God is giving me. Cognitive incoherence.
Since she’s been born I’ve been vegetarian, vegan, clean, paleo, ketogenic, low fat high carb raw vegan, it all makes me feel sorrowful. But that’s how we learn, right?
there’s a greater purpose for all this nonsense.
I LOOOOOOOOOOVVEEE YOOOOUUUURR BLOG!!!! Soooo much!! It is just amazing! You are an amazing person and the inspiration I need finally to kick any bits of my past ED thoughts. I can’t even begin to explain how much just reading your post have made me smile!. I am a teen male with a blog who had an ED. I am pretty unique but I don’t mind! Check out my blog if you have time ! Thanks!:)
I absolutely LOVE this post. I just found your blog from Alex and I just have to say I agree with everything you just said. The comment you made about wishing you never found out about calories; I feel the EXACT same way. When I was little I would eat whatever, until I was full then stop. I also wouldn’t not eat something because of the calorie content. I don’t even think I knew what calories were! Now I can’t even remember the last time I ate something, not wondering how many calories were in it. It kind of stinks, but I hope one day I can be a better ‘intuitive’ eater and not worry so much about calories.
Holy crap. THANK YOU. Like seriously thank you for posting this. I cannot even begin to explain how well for starters true this all is but also how much of a realization I just had. I know I’ve been victim to food rules, big time. Yes, everyone has. It’s so easy to fall victim too because they are anywhere and everywhere!!! The carbs before bed has been a hard one to get over, I still find myself feeling guilty sometimes but I’ve tried to start thinking… “Sarah, carbs are the bodies immediate source of fuel… your hungry, heck your really hungry… and you want to sleep.. Eat the damn carbs and go to bed”. I think we get too caught up in wanting to be the best. Over-analyzing everything. Yes, making food into a science. Which… technically it is BUT unless your in school to be an R.D does it really matter THAAAAAAT much? No. I like your “food rules” here, because well they aren’t rules… they are listening to the human body 🙂
If it helps, before my body started having issues with oats, I used to have a big bowl of them pretty much every night before bed, and the only side effect I noticed was that I slept like a baby 😀
I guess its normal when you think of how it was back in the stoneage and the seasons affect on foods available. Anyways I love your blog, and I love you. Don’t stop blogging!! I like how you bring up different topics and share your thoughts around them. You seem so insightful and lovely 🙂
Awwr thank you Synne 😀
Eating watermelon until my belly looks like one? Yup victim of that. Food rules now: eat what I want, eat foods that make me feel good, eat often, eat what I’m craving, be happy 🙂
Your dessert rule is my favorite! Few meals go by without including something sweet in them, whether it’s fruit or chocolate. They just don’t feel complete without a sweet ending! I used to feel bad for having such a sweet tooth but now I embrace it and try to balance it out with healthier options that still fulfill my cravings for the sweet stuff.
This is so awesome Amanda. I love it. I can’t believe back in the day how I would rely on light bread, fat free pop tarts, 100 calorie yogurts and fruit for sustenence- my “treats” were fat free hot chocolate full of aspartame, fat free sugar free fro yo, and fat free sugar free pudding. BLECH> and I wondered why my stomach used to hurt all the time! I was truly convinced that fat would make me fat, and was terrified to eat anything more than 3 g. at a time. All I can say now is BRING IT ON, the more the better! And, I am no longer hungry every 1.5 hours!
In my opinion, the only way to prove weather food rules hold any ground is to break each and every one if them 🙂 The happiest people I know are the ones who don’t follow food rules at all!
You are precious 🙂
All these food rules are exhausting. I couldn’t agree more with you that food isn’t a number – it is there to nourish us or provide enjoyment – usually both. Its ridiculous to think that some people have turned it into a numbers game. Don’t even get me started on the whole white sugar thing…its not going to kill us as along as we don’t over do it daily.
Loving all of these rules. I am a recovering calorie counter who definitely “turned food into numbers” and still working on it, but so much better than I was. And seriously what is better than full fat foods? Almost nothing. A life without peanut butter is no life at all. I used to believe in the whole “don’t eat 2-3 hours before bedtime” rule too…and would wake up positively RAVENOUS in the morning. What was I thinking?? Bedtime snacktime is my favorite time of day now.
Yes to most of these. All I can say is ED has a lot to answer for. I sometimes really hate that I wasted so much time obsessing over food but, through all the bad, I’ve learnt a lot about myself.
I never eat low fat dairy. I make a point of avoiding it in fact.
I used to go to bed starving too. I guess I spent my whole time like that in reality, but it’s the night I remember the most.
I swear the body has memory for things like this because I have zero tolerance for hunger now. I massively overeat if I leave hunger for more than like 15 minutes. Maybe that’s just me but it’s as if my body still doesn’t trust me.
I don’t have a high tolerance level for hunger either, and it just plain scares me. If I let myself stay hungry for too long, I swear I feel panic attacks coming on. The body definitely remembers all the pain of starvation…
LOVE LOVE LOVE this post!!! I actually can agree with every single one of your food rules! This is a healthy approach to eating! I especially agree with the going to bed hungry thing…I CAN’T stand that feeling! A nighttime snack happens EVERY night for me! NO exceptions! Keep up the awesome perspective girl….you rock!
I’m more than a little in love with this post. And now I want breakfast for dinner.
I have definitely fell fowl of the fat will make you fat and the carbs will make you fat one but I’m definitely with you on the full fat versions of things, generally that is what I will always go for now!
Wonderful post. 🙂 I remember there were times I went to bed so hungry, my stomach growled so frequently, that I tried to satiate it chugging loads of water or tea. Now I just try not going to bed too “full” (or i sleep very uncomfortably)
It’s been a long road to finding food rules that work for my body. Still walking the road, but enjoying the bites of food along the way 🙂
<3
Totally with on the rules! going to bed hungry is definitely not an option!!! Brilliant post!
I love this post so much. All of the things you said are things that I have learned in the past couple years and a few that I still have to constantly remind myself. Thank you for positing this!!! Just found your blog and am definitely going to be a regular reader from now on 🙂
Thanks for stopping by to say hi, Hayley! 😀