Who determines what kinds of food are eaten at what meal? Seriously. Don’t you know anyone (I could name a few) who loves breakfast foods at dinner time and having lunch foods as snacks and dinner foods for breakfast? Oh, please tell me you’ve had cold or re-warmed pizza for breakfast. That is by far one of the best breakfast in the history of meals designated to certain appropriate times of day.
As you know, I plan my meals at night. Well, I plan my breakfasts at night. Then, sometimes I get to breakfast in the morning and I’m so excited, I can hardly finish getting ready without running off to stuff my face (if that was an unpleasant visual, I apologize). Other times, I look at my grits or oatmeal and decide that just won’t cut it. For instance, the other morning I got to Adam’s and decided there was only one thing that sounded appealing (besides, of course, all of the food I’m not allowed to have). So, I opened up the fridge and set to my creation. I used a gluten-free, rice tortilla, covered it with tomato sauce, topped it with cheese and pepperoni, microwaved it, and enjoyed a most-wonderful flat pizza… for breakfast! Also, a few weeks ago (and I mentioned this in Writing Ahead is A Whole Lot Harder Than It Seems…) that I had made Adam some pancakes and sausage and Aaron a bacon and cheese omelet for dinner. It was amazing. 🙂 
I think living overseas really introduced this concept to me. When I lived in Israel for 3 1/2 months in the spring semester of 2008, I experienced pickled fish and salads and raw vegetables for breakfast. It was amazing! I had never thought about eating those things that early in the morning and without having had a sufficient amount of eggs and bacon to somehow stomach them; however, once I got used to it, it inspired in me a love for eating foods outside of the classic American mealtime philosophy.
Now, some of my favorite breakfast foods include rice, taco salad, pizza, etc. Weird? Yes, I know. Let’s join in a chorus. 🙂
That’s my first food challenge to you today: Enjoy a food outside of its typical meal.
Did you know that breakfast is the most-important meal of the day? I’m sure we’ve all heard that. After all, all the doctors are talking about it, there are all sorts of articles online about it, and even YouTube hosts a few videos on the topic.
So, here’s my theory. I like to eat my heaviest meals in the earlier part of the day so that I have the whole day to walk it off, work it off, and use up as many of the useful calories as possible. I’m not saying I like to binge on fudge-sauce covered ice cream at 9am, but I would say that I would rather have it then than at 10pm before heading to bed.
That’s my second challenge of the day: Enjoy your heavier foods sooner and your lighter foods later.
This way, you can eat a lighter meal closer to when you’ll be inactive, your body will rest better (without having to try to digest heavy food you just ate) and you’ll feel better. Guess what??? You’ll also lose weight. I’m not a big diet advocate. I think most of them are a matter of starving yourself of the nutrition your body needs and they all eventually lead to you lasting for a good few weeks, even a month and a half, then going back to the way you’ve always eaten and to either feeding your body the way you should be fed or overeating. Just check out these blogs! How sad! These people are starving themselves in an attempt to be thin, but that’s not the way to do it!
I’m not saying I’m completely against a fast. My sister-in-law did one and found it extremely profitable. Check out her blog on it: 40 Days in the Desert. However, fasting as a way to lose weight will not solve the issue of why you were overweight or just “heavier than you wanted to be” in the first place.
That’s my third challenge of the day: Think long-term in your weight-loss program!!
So, let’s talk portion-control. I love food. I love eating, I love feeding people, and I even love watching people eat. (Ok, the chorus of “Yes, that’s weird!” is getting a little loud. Try to tone it down. Thanks.) With my stomach issues this past year, I have not been able to eat as much. Most things irritate my stomach to some degree (although stress is one of the biggest offenders), so I can’t eat as much as I would like…. and believe me, I like to eat alot. lol…when Adam and I first started dating, he laughed and said I ate 2/3rds more than a person my size should eat. lol… well, he was probably right, but oh was it so good!!
Adam is a big help with my not being able to eat so much. He’s a big encourager and he’s a big preventer. Often he serves my dinner plate. I love that. He knows that I can’t eat a lot, he knows I have a tendency to over-serve myself, he knows over-eating leaves me doubled-over and in the bathroom, and he knows I have a hard time leaving food on my plate (it’s a family thing – ask my sisters). So, he serves my plate (and it’s always just perfect) and I eat whatever is there. It’s not a matter of his controlling how much I eat or anything strange like that. He’s helping me, and I’m thankful. Portion-control, people. Get an accountability partner, someone who knows your weakness of over-eating, over-serving, or just plain choosing the wrong foods to enjoy. Let them help you.
Snacking is such a temptation. You know it is. If you’re a college-student, you know a little midnight snack is sometimes what gets you to the next 2nd wind and keeps you going. Avoid it. Often, (as is the case with college students) snacking takes place late at night, so again, we’re faced with eating food right before you sleep, which is not healthy for your digestive system at all.
So, there is my last challenge of the day: Portion control and the avoidance of snacking are keys to health and weight-loss.
Should I recap? I think not. Hang in there, eat healthy, and enjoy food! 🙂
P.S. I love how blogs and writing in general morphs. I started this blog post wanting to talk about foods that I love to eat outside of the typical assigned meal within American culture. I ended it talking about portion-control, accountability partners, and the avoidance of midnight snacks. 🙂 I love it. Writing takes you places, as if it has a mind of its own.
Making My Boast 
I have tried to vote in your poll…but it won’t let me. My vote doesn’t seem to register.
hm…. that stinks.