Alisonlcarver Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 For a small-framed 115# female who exercises regularly, would this be a balanced breakfast, or too much food?: 3 scrambled eggs, plain--protein Canned pace salsa, maybe 1/3 cup--veggie Steamed broccoli and cauliflower, maybe 1 cup--veggie 1 banana 1 packet (2 T.) Justin's plain almond butter--fat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alisonlcarver Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Just estimating things, but that's roughly 600 calories. That seems like so much! It's hard for me to not want to count calories. I need to break that habit, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted December 1, 2015 Administrators Share Posted December 1, 2015 It depends, Alison, how do you feel after you've eaten it? Stuffed? Comfortable? How do you feel in 2, 3 and 4-5 hours afterwards? Are you starved at 3 hours? Could you feasibly go another 6-7 hours before your next meal? Are you energetic or sluggish? Do you have clarity or mental fog? If you are sluggish with mental fog or experience late day cravings or early hunger between meals, you might try ditching the banana and nut butter in favour of more veggies. That said, if you feel great, aren't starved, aren't stuffed then it's probably just right for you. Forget metrics like calories. Someone who didn't know YOU and YOUR life and context decided how many calories might be sufficient for you. Given that YOU weren't taken into consideration in the equation, those numbers mean jack. Eat. Assess. Tweak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alisonlcarver Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Thank you. I feel like I have been programmed to consider calories when eating. Do you have recommendations on how to stop thinking of food in terms of metrics? Practice and patience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alisonlcarver Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 P.S. I love "Eat. Assess. Tweak." I am definitely going to adopt that in a lot of my meals from now on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted December 1, 2015 Administrators Share Posted December 1, 2015 Thank you. I feel like I have been programmed to consider calories when eating. Do you have recommendations on how to stop thinking of food in terms of metrics? Practice and patience? We've all been conditioned to consider calories because it's one of the many ways that the diet and marketing industry controls us and tries to apply their metrics to our self worth. The fact is that your body is a super sophisticated organism that doesn't need to use an app or know how hot a banana burns when lit on fire (the basic calorie is energy when literally burned). Just eat food. Whole, colorful, varied and balanced. Open up a dialogue with yourself that doesn't take random numbers or percentages into conisderation. Spend time with yourself and learn to hear what your body is saying. So yes, practice and patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whole30 Certified Coach littleg Posted December 1, 2015 Whole30 Certified Coach Share Posted December 1, 2015 I think doing some reading about the inaccuracy of calories in vs calories out for weight loss helped me. There is so much more to the calories "out" part (metabolic rate, body comp, activity level, stress levels, temperature, your body's particular enzymatic reactions, the composition of the food you eat, your body's digestion...) that in reality you never really *know* what it is. So why bother trying to hit some arbitrary target? OR spend some time with babies/kids. They embody how we are meant to eat. They eat when they are hungry, they stop when they are full. You weren't *meant* to count calories, so just stop PS - I have been a calorie counter since the 90s when they told us it mattered. Going paleo helped but the best I ever feel is when I do a W30 and just totally stop - no measuring, no counting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeadowLily Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Alison. Remember your childhood days without calorie, macro, micro and mackerel counting. You didn't go to the mirror and use a measuring tape around your waist or pinch your arms. You had food freedom during your school career and recreational activities. You were too busy with your buddies to be bothered. You may not've wanted to come home for dinner. Life was so easy and fun. Go back. Return to sender. Address unknown. It's the dieting process that starts messing with the dopamine center of the brain. Wild swings UP and down and all around with calorie counting. Leave it behind. For real. Go back to your original factory settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegoldengrahamgirl Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 "Go back to your original factory settings" --> LOVE IT! I love watching my four-year-old son eat. Sometimes he barely touches what's on his plate. Sometimes he eats it all and asks for more (and it can be the exact same food as in scenario number 1). Sometimes his response varies by food. It certainly changes day by day and even meal by meal. We try not to stress about it. He certainly doesn't! You'll get there, Alison! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praxisproject Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Calories can be really silly too. My first and only Weight Watchers contact was when they told me a cookie was the same as an apple, completely interchangeable. I was nowhere near paleo at the time, but even then I knew that was not how I wanted to eat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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