Meal Plan: Week Five

This past week we only needed to make minor adjustments, and we discussed some additional concepts to aid in maintaining the changes Michael, and his wife Audrey have made as true lifestyle changes. Audrey, by the way, has also lost 15 pounds this past month changing her nutritional habits in support of Michael. On a side note, it's hard to even express how beneficial it is to have a support system at home - a friend, family member, or coworker to provide encouragement and maybe even do it at the same time.

We worked on eating Breakfast a little sooner in the day, ideally within the first half hour to hour after waking up, as it will kickstart the metabolism for the day sooner. We also worked on eating Dinner a little sooner, so it is not as close to bedtime. As our bodies are winding down for the day, they don't need the same amount of calories to operate, so eating too much, close to bedtime will potentially be giving us calories we don't need or won't have the opportunity to burn off. We also worked on what we like to call "conscious eating." This simply means paying closer attention to the actual process of eating when we sit down for meals. Social distractions (lots of conversation, watching television, etc.) tend to make us eat faster and in larger quantities because we are not really aware of what, or how much, we are shoveling into our mouths. By slowing down, thinking about how much food we have in front of us, and paying more attention to each bite, we can tap more into our bodies instinctive need for food. So, when we don't need anymore, which is before the point of actually "feeling" full, we can put that fork down and say, that's enough for now - I don't "need" anymore. Try this at dinner for one week - the difference in quanitity and choices may be surprising.