Too much food?!

[lizzie_s]

I'm on day 6 and feel like I'm eating more than I need to. I'm trying to follow the guidelines so, for example, this morning I had 2 eggs with about 1 c veggies (cauli, zucchini, carrots & sweet potato) cooked in about 1 T olive oil. I pushed myself to eat almost all of it as I was concerned I wouldn't get enough protein and veggies in otherwise. Lunch 5 hrs later was about 1-1/2 c homemade chicken chili. I feel full but not terribly satisfied. I really am having trouble figuring out what's the right amount to eat! I could cut down on meal sizes but ISWF does seem to discourage going below a certain amount daily. Is it OK to eat smaller portions and have a snack if I feel hungry later? Or is it more important to stick to 3 meals/day and avoid the habitual in-between eating

I feel v confused, so any advice would be much appreciated!

[notacommittee]

so, for example, this morning I had 2 eggs with about 1 c veggies (cauli, zucchini, carrots & sweet potato) cooked in about 1 T olive oil.

 

That is not enough. The serving size for eggs is however many fits in your hand. I have small hands and I can fit 3-4 eggs.

 

Also, with your lunch, the chicken chili counts as your protein but you also need vegetables with that and potentially a fat depending on how fatty your chili is. Just eating chili is not following the template. Maybe if you add a salad or some veggies to your lunch, you'll feel more satisfied.

 

But bottom line, you need to eat more food: if you don't feel satisfied, continue eating until you do! That's just not enough food especially if you're working out. Definitely do not reduce your meal sizes. If you feel hungry later, have a mini-meal: follow the proportions of the template but shrink them down to a snack size. So instead of 3-4 eggs for a meal, you could have 1-2 for a mini-meal, alongside a small pile of carrot sticks.

 

If it feels uncomfortable to eat more, try betaine HCL supplements, digestive enzymes, or some apple cider vinegar in water (I dissolve about 1-2 tbsp in a liter of water but you could get more concentrated than that).

[Tom Denham]

The meal template describes the minimum amount of food you should be eating: http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf It is important to eat this much even if you don't feel like it. If you feel full while eating less food, you may be having trouble with digestion and need to take digestive enzymes with your meals to help you "process" the food you are eating. You might want to look at this article on digestive enzymes: http://whole9life.com/2012/09/digestive-enzymes-101/

[lizzie_s]

Thanks. I was figuring the veggies I used in the chili was enough but I will add more. Happy to eat more veggies, it's just hard to get used to eating so much more meat and fat! But I will review the template. Thanks again.