Feed the machine

So I've discovered why so many moms have a hard time with their weight and health. You know I have been exercising, and working out pretty hard. While I have gotten much stronger, I wasn't really seeing any significant changes in how I looked. So I had to go ahead and look at my diet again. After Pumpkin was born we had cut out so many things from our diets (he was having some colic and reflux caused by what I was eating) that we essentially removed all processed foods as well as anything considered "junk" even if it was homemade. We were eating clean. Well, that has gone a bit by the wayside, and while we certainly don't eat much processed foods, I do find myself snacking a fair bit and eating whatever the kids don't finish.

The first thing I did in addressing the eating part of my health was to look at when I am hungry. I decided I'd rate my hunger throughout the day on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being super hungry and 1 being not at all hungry. Turns out that I am not ever hungry, and this is the issue. I used to be really good about listening to my body for most everything - I was the one who said no one ever needed to go on a "diet" because if you just fed your body what it wanted you would be fine. Well, yeah, that's true if you listen and respect it's wishes! One of the first things to go though as a mom is your own needs and schedules. I have learned to eat when food is available because if I wait until I am hungry I am likely going to be in the midst of something that I just can't remove myself from. Certainly when the babies are small and you are stuck sitting in a chair nursing (before you learn to nurse walking around while talking on the phone) you hold your pee, listen to your tummy rumble, and desperately sniffle hoping you don't drip snot on the baby since you can't reach the tissues.

So step one. Eat when you are mild to moderately hungry as opposed to eat when food is in view. I can do that, I just have to pay a little more attention.