Tips for Surviving Calorie Restriction Diets | Tips for Fasting | Tips for Eating Smaller Portions
No need to lie – if you’ve read anything about me, you know I’m not into crazy restrictive shit in life. When I even think about someone weighing out their food, I’m like – grow up! Or get over yourself…as nothing can be that damn serious! Especially when it comes to veggies. I personally have never known anyone to get fat or blow up from eating too much broccoli or cauliflower or cucumbers or zucchini. You? Exactly…
So measuring out every freaking thing you eat seemed like overkill and obnoxious and just fucking stupid. I wasn’t going to be involved, nor even condone such an obsessive life – as that ultimately seems stressful, and stress is no good. In lots of ways. And boy, would I find out that situation at it’s finest.
But seriously, if you ever asked me in my 39 years to date if I thought I would get full on 4 freaking ounces of protein (meat or fish) and 4 ounces of substantial veggies, I would have straight laughed in your face! I am an eater. Always have been. Always been able to eat a lot, always worked out on the reg 6 days a week, always had a good metabolism. Until, my body wasn’t a fan of all of the stress I put it through, and it started acting out with Phase 2 adrenal dysfunction and weight gain and throwing my thyroid off, etc.
One of the programs my lovely doctor group put me on, being a more holistic crew, was a short-term month long ordeal where I was essentially fasting and calorie restricting. Mind you I was also taking lots of supplements during this time to aid me! I am not personally a huge fan of intermittent fasting as I have never felt or seen my best results with it, yet I get some love it and are obsessed! The reason this diet has you fasting, is that you only get lunch and dinner. You get a limited amount of protein at each meal, limited amount of veggies (certain list), and a limited amount of fruit (certain list). There is a short list of fully water based veggies that you can eat until you vomit, yet the funny thing is, you really don’t even need many of them?
I am honestly mind blown that a girl like me with an inner fat girl that looooves to throw down like a man would ever be content, let alone FULL from eating 4 ounces of meat and 4 ounces of broccoli! Like who the hell am I and what have you done with Sarah?! Sometimes I don’t even eat my 4 ounces of fruit with the meal as I’m too full. Like whaaaaat?! Yet I’m for reals! It’s shocking to me, yet it goes to show that after a couple of weeks, your body literally adapts to almost fucking anything!
One thing I will say is that I’ve started chewing and eating slower after noticing I was inhaling the food. Had to get the concept that the portions are small, and if you eat them fast, they go fast as hell! Clown!
So I slowed down.
I started becoming more intentional with my chewing, to aid my body in digestion and to make the shit last longer! HA!
I started putting my fork down between bites. I started being more intentional with my eating to savor it and slow the F down….which is also good for stress reduction. I am more of a move 50 miles a minute type of chick. I think fast, talk fast, move fast, etc. Never considered myself a “holy shit you’re fast” eater type, yet I knew I wasn’t slow and intentional and aiding my digestive tract with proper chewing and mindfulness.
I also once heard a holistic nutritionist I follow on IG quickly make a comment on stories about if you chew your food, you may not need as many digestive enzymes! It’s stuck with me as a bit of an “ah ha” moment! Like just consider – you voluntarily doing the work yourself to better break down your food through the basic function of chewing, would in fact aid your body and the entire digestive process tremendously. Hhmmm. Imagine that.
So while I had to slow down and not inhale my small portion of food to make it last, I remembered that. I also recalled the old saying that you should chew your food something like 30 times each bite before swallowing. *Honestly, that’s always haunted me cause if you really count it out – you’ll probably land somewhere in the teens when you count your bites before swallowing. Definitely no bueno.
Those things combined made me ultimately slow down my eating. And what do ya know?! After a couple of weeks, that same amount of food now filled me up. I’d take almost twice as long to eat it, and it actually seemed fully sufficient!
They’ll say you can’t really shrink the size of your stomach without surgical aid, yet I am not sure I fully believe that. Your body gets used to the quantities you eat. It gets used to how frequently you eat. It also seems as though it gets used to not being able to even get the message to your brain that you’re full, until you’re already overly full! Like anything else, the brain has to have the time to pick up the signals from other organs in the body. Some are instantaneous, yet most that aren’t critical or vital to you, are not!
So now I’m on a kick of eating slower and chewing my food more! And even as I start to eat a bit more in regards to ounces of food, or add in another meal each day, I bet I won’t be needing to eat as much at meals?!
Hope those tips help you if you’re in a phase of calorie cutting. And if you’re working on that or fasting, make sure to be loading up on water! Like half of your body weight in ounces or a bit more! That will definitely help ya! As always, please make sure you have protein at every single meal!
Cheers to being healthy-ish and surviving any phase you cycle your body through – reduced calories or not!
