My husband Ray has started a new eating program: no eating between meals. He has been at it for two months and I can definitely see that he is thinner as a result. So, of course, I have jumped onboard to see if this will help me trim down my larger-than-I-would-like waistline. I started last week and this is what I have observed so far: 1) Not eating between meals is easier than I would have thought, 2) Eating only three times a day makes eating much more enjoyable, and 3) No in-between meal snacks means that mealtime is back to being a defined time when food is focused on since that’s all you get to eat for several hours.
I hadn’t expected that this “program” would have the benefit of setting up the discipline of three distinctive sit-down mealtimes, but this is exactly what it does. If you’re only eating during a meal, then that meal becomes important. So, no standing up and tossing in food while you’re staring at television. No, that might mean you’d miss the enjoyment of eating and the next chance you have is at least four hours away. So, here we are preparing food and sitting down three times a day at a table for our meal. Who knew?
I remember when I was growing up there was a big emphasis on no in-between-meal snacks. Of course, this was the fifties and sixties and there was more focus then on family sit-down meals. But as time has passed, there has been a shift in what messages we Americans have received about food. “Fast food” became part of the everyday picture and that meant gulping down a hamburger and fries while sitting (or driving) in your car. The focus shifted away from the family meal and more to convenience food, which could be eaten fast and easy. Though I grew up in a family where we had cereal for breakfast, we always had a hot meal at noon, which I often came home from school to enjoy. Dinner consisted of leftovers from lunch or some packaged food, such as fish sticks or macaroni and cheese and was catch as catch can, meaning not a sit-down affair. Lunch was our formal meal every day all the time I was growing up.
With my own children, we generally had cereal or oatmeal for breakfast, a quick-lunch, and then a prepared dinner. We had two main meals at night for years: chalupas (corn tortilla, beans, cheese with salad on top) or spaghetti with tomato sauce and a salad. My husband can eat the same food over and over and that’s what we did. Finally, I couldn’t stand the sameness and started breaking out of the routine, and in the past few years, I have returned to the major meal at lunch with a smaller breakfast and dinner. This included, of course, snacks in-between.
So, now we are preparing three complete meals a day, sitting down for each, and taking time to eat and talk and eat some more. And I can see this is exactly as it’s supposed to be: mealtime as a period for sustenance and conversation.
I will continue this experiment and see how I fare. So far, I can see the value. I will see if my waistline cooperates accordingly. Ray says his goal is simply to get control of his eating. He said he’s not going to worry about losing weight yet. I immediately want to lose weight, and am not as concerned about controlling my food intake. But I see the folly of my ways. I think I’ll proceed with his plan because I can clearly see that it’s working on several levels for him. Plus, I like this more deliberate approach to food. It feels calmer and more civilized, probably because there is thought behind the preparation and the consumption rather than mindlessness. I guess mindfulness is the goal in all actions. It would stand to reason eating would be no different.
How about you? Do you have a method to your eating? Please share.
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