When
is the last time you woke up in the morning and actually felt hungry, had
hunger pangs in your belly? If this occurs all the time, great! If not, you
should probably consider changing up your diet.
You
want to wake up hungry because this means you did not over eat the previous
night. Basically, you should eat when you expend energy. Understand first that
food = calorie = energy. In other words, food is the sort of solid form of
energy. When you are moving your body needs energy or food to function
optimally. When you are at rest, your body doesn't need many calories so there
is little need for food. It's a simple concept, energy in (food), energy out
(moving or exercise).
Thus
the saying, "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner
like a pauper." You need energy or food when you are expending it, working
all day, exercising... You don't need much food once you stop at night, for
most of us, after dinner.
If
you eat too little during the day, skip breakfast and grab a bite for lunch,
your body will be deprived of the energy it needs. You will feel sluggish and
not be able to perform optimally. If you eat most of your calories at dinner and
snack a lot at night, your body will store the excess calories as fat.
In
fact, a pound is equivalent to 3,500 calories. If you eat 2 oreos every night
while sitting around watching TV, and you already ate the calories your body
needed to move throughout the day, you will gain 11 pounds in one year!
Your
goal should be to nourish your body during the day when you are expending
energy so your body can perform optimally and stop eating at night when you are
hanging out. If you do this, you are less likely to gain unwanted weight and
you will wake up hungry!
Lisa
Browning, RD, LDN
Market
Manager, Barrington Farmers' Market
PS - Remember, real health comes from real food and
real food usually does not come from a box or package. Fresh foods have more
vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals than processed foods. Join the
"slow food movement" and buy real food which is plentiful at our
farmers' market.
