Grazing - the10principles

By Kelly Clark / Build Healthy Habits

Comments
  • I lost weight when I stopped grazing
  • What I do instead of grazing
  • When I stopped grazing I also stopped thinking about food ALL the time

This post explains why putting a balanced meal on a plate helps you lose weight.

When I understood why grazing worked AGAINST me reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, it was easier to start eating balanced meals.

Kelly Clark

When I look back at the 10 years I was overweight, the more complicated I made eating, the harder it was to lose weight. But when I finally threw my arms in the air, said to hell with it… and went back to the basics, I lost weight.

One of the first things I did was stop grazing all day. And it made a world of difference. This post explains what I did instead.

Why I started grazing

When I was overweight, I started following diet rules, tips and tricks. This meant making big changes to what I normally ate and avoiding many types of food. My meals became smaller and in hindsight, unbalanced.

I thought I was doing everything right.

But in reality… when I stopped eating balanced meals, I stopped meeting my body’s needs (though I didn’t know this). So, I felt hungry all the time.

And feeling hungry all the time, made me think about eating all the time.

In fact, I thought I was addicted to food.

Eventually I’d get so hungry, I’d break down and eat something I thought I shouldn’t.

Then feel incredibly guilty and ashamed.

And I started worrying I lacked discipline.

(I didn’t know that weight loss is about building healthy habits, NOT willpower.)

This complicated relationship I was building with food, made me feel anxious. I wanted to prove to myself that I had the discipline to stick to my diet.

The only way to get rid of that anxious feeling was having a plan to correct it. So I’d decide to eat an even smaller amount at my next meal.

I thought eating less would help me get back on track.

Now I know this plan was self-defeating.

Why?

Because the more often I cut back at mealtime, to make up for snacking, the hungrier I became between meals… and the more I’d snack.

Pretty soon I was just eating small amounts here and there throughout the day.

And I continued to gain weight.

…At the time, of course, I didn’t see this pattern at all.

Grazing became my normal

After eating this way for a while, some people started to say “Oh, Kelly just likes grazing.”

So I began thinking, “I just like grazing.”

Soon I started to see grazing as an acceptable way to eat.

I was just somebody who preferred to eat little bits here and there, but never a full meal.

Grazing - Morning has broken - the10principles

Alex and I made this mosaic out of broken plates. He calls it “Morning Has Broken.” I’m calling it “Grazing.”

Without realizing, I’d become scared to eat an actual meal!

I thought:

If I can gain weight by eating small amounts most of the time,
how much more weight will I gain
if I eat a complete breakfast, lunch and dinner?

I became afraid of feeling full.

I continued grazing because I didn’t understand how the body works.

Like, I didn’t know that if you don’t eat enough regularly, your body goes into survival mode and slows down your metabolism.

I also didn’t know that balanced meals made of whole foods (big enough to make you feel satisfied) help you lose weight.

Grazing - orange whole foods - the10principlesWhole foods are foods found in their most natural state. They’re full of vitamins, minerals and fiber that meet your body’s needs. When you eat a balanced meal or snack made of whole foods you NATURALLY reach a point of feeling “full”. Then you know to stop eating.

An orange is a whole food. It’s hard to eat more than 1 or 2 oranges at one sitting.

Processed foods are full or sugar, salt, preservatives, artificial flavors and coloring that c-o-n-f-u-s-e your body. Then it’s hard to know when you’re full.

Orange juice is a processed food. So it’s easy to drink 1 or 2 glasses of orange juice… But each glass is equivalent to about 3 oranges (MINUS all the natural fiber and vitamins found in an oranage & PLUS tons of added ingredients put in the juice)!!

Eventally I’d only feel good about eating fruit, diet pop (which confuses your body) and low-fat processed foods, like pretzels and rice cakes—always careful to NOT eat enough to feel full.

But the longer I went eating less (grazing on low-fat food) the more I’d over-eat when I broke my diet.

Despite all the time and energy I spent trying to lose weight, things just got worse instead of better.

My life went on this way until everything got so bad I asked for help.

Grazing makes eating complicated & set me up to fail

Slow metabolism binge purge cycle - the-10-principles

One bad choice often leads to another

  • I always had low energy because I never met my body’s needs with a variety of natural foods.
  • I started thinking I had a slow metabolism. All my friends who were a healthy weight ate breakfast, lunch and dinner.
  • I got into the habit of always eating or drinking something.
  • I felt awkward eating with other people because I was only comfortable eating small amounts.
  • Soon after I ate I’d be hungry again. Meanwhile everyone else was busy getting on with their day.
  • I was always looking for a washroom because I needed to brush my teeth each time I ate.
  • I never really knew how much I ate. And worried all the time. So I’d try to under-eat to be safe, which always lead to overeating.
Grazing is preoccupying.
Grazing leads to overeating and weight gain.

I lost weight when I stopped grazing

I hit rock bottom a few times during my recovery.

Each time I found myself
deep
down
a pit,
…with no idea how to climb out, I asked for help.

And each time I discovered an important piece of the weight-loss (aka healthy habit) puzzle.

Remember, healthy habits help you reach and maintain a healthy weight.
Diets are short term solutions.

We are all in the gutter. But some of us are looking at the stars.
–Oscar Wilde, playwright

You don’t have to wait for things to get bad before you ask for help.
Asking for help is simply saying: Hey, I want to get better! Life is a collaboration. We need to bring people into our lives to support us in reaching goals. Everyone who’s successful has a team of people around them—whether they’re an Olympian or a child learning to paint. We all have people who fill in the gaps by providing resources and guidance. It’s a strength to ask for help.

In my second year of university I asked for help. Help suggested I sign up for the school meal plan. Then I could get back into the habit of eating 3 balanced meals each day, rather than grazing.

Here’s what happened and more information on how to transition from grazing to eating 3 meals a day.

I lost weight when I focused on being healthy

I didn’t put it into words at the time, but I lost weight when it became more important to me to be healthy than to be thin.

So many opportunities were passing me by. And that scared me. So I was FINALLY willing to try something new: eat 3 ROUGHLY balanced meals each day made MOSTLY of whole foods.

To my surprise healthy habits translated into a healthy weight!

Grazing Plate - the10principles.com

A glass of milk or cheese could be added to this meal to make it more balanced.

When I stopped grazing and started meeting my body’s needs (via 3 balanced meals) I:

  • stopped thinking about food
  • reached and maintained a healthy weight
  • started thinking about my future

I became present. It sounds strange, but the world felt new again.

Instead of being preoccupied by hunger, guilt and shame, I could concentrate on everything going on around me.

I became grateful for the smallest things.

It feels great to eat and get on with your life!

Until then I didn’t understand that our bodies function best when they’re in a routine. Think about how you feel when you’ve stayed up later than usual. Our bodies like eating patterns as much as they like sleeping patterns.

The great thing is… the world already works around meals!

Schools and offices break at meal times.

Families and friends get together for meals.

And restaurants serve meals on a plate.

These times set aside for meals make it easier to stop grazing.

Having breakfast, lunch and dinner gives your day structure. And feeling satisfied after a meal allows you to focus on your interests between each meal.

Eating 3 ROUGHLY balanced meals made MOSTLY of whole foods helps you reach all your goals.

How I stopped grazing

Grazing put your food on a plate - the10principlesWhen I started putting my food on a plate before I began eating, I stopped grazing. This approach also simplified the process of reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. Why? Building your meal before you begin, gives you a good picture of what you’re eating. Then you can:

  • see if you have a balanced meal (so you can meet your body’s needs)
  • see where you can improve your meal with more whole foods
  • know how much you’re going to eat (grazing can go on forever and you can end up eating more than you need)
  • discover (through trial and error) the approximate size your balanced meal needs to be in order to sustain you until your next meal
  • brush your teeth after you’re done eating
  • concentrate on your next task

Getting into the routine of eating 3 meals each day makes it easier to be aware of what you’re eating so you can adapt your choices and make progress toward your goals.

When you stop grazing and get into the habit of preparing a healthy meal before you begin, eating becomes a non-issue. Then you can accomplish incredible things between meals.

Tweet: Put your food on a plate before you start eating. It will help you #loseweight via @the10principles

Here’s a printable Eatwell Guide. Put it on your fridge. When you place food on your plate, or pack a lunch, try to match the food group proportions found on the Eatwell Guide. Then sit down and enjoy your meal.

What if you’re hungry between meals? Eat a balanced snack. But only after you’ve put it on a plate!

Stop grazing!

Put your food on a plate, sit down and enjoy your meal. Then carry on with your next activity.

Here’s a link to some balanced lunches I’ve been eating regularly over the past 20 years that I’ve been a healthy weight.

Build healthy eating and exercise habits. A healthy weight will follow.

Next Steps: Whether your experience is more or less extreme, aim to eat 3 balanced meals each day. Figure out what you’re meal will look like before you begin eating. Having a strategy for change also helps you turn unhealthy habits into healthy habits. But first… you need to FIX the biggest weight-loss mistake. Sign up (below) and learn, in just 60 seconds, if you’re making this mistake.

I Wanna Get Better by Bleachers
“I didn’t know I was broken till I wanted to change…”

Are you used to eating a bit here and there while you cook?
Do you ever eat standing in front of the fridge?
When else do you find yourself grazing?

Share your experience in the comments below—identifying your behavior helps everyone recognize and break unhealthy patterns.

 

 

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Sharing what I learned makes the 10 years I STRUGGLED worth it

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