Am I really hungry?

We talk a lot on here about healthy eating, but to be honest we didn’t always eat like this. When I was in college, I seemed to learn that I needed to eat everything put in front of me, because, when you’re in the Army, you never know when your next meal might be. It took me 9 years to re-learn that I didn’t really need to live like that anymore. When I got out of the Army, I took a look at myself and realized I needed to do some work to lose some weight and reshape myself and my life. With Kelly’s help as my Personal Trainer,  and my refocus on how to nourish my body and how to look at food, I was able to transform both my body and my life. I learned to be selective in what I eat and that I can gain just as much pleasure from eating smaller amounts of quality food than I thought I’d used to get from eating large quantities of anything around.

This came to mind this week, while we’re on vacation and visiting family. While traveling, we stopped at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. If you’ve been there, you know they bring out a large basket of hot, fresh rolls with delicious cinnamon butter out to your table when you are seated. We allowed ourselves to share a roll with our salads. Then our steaks and mixed vegetables arrived and we thoroughly enjoyed that. As we were winding down, I looked over at the plump rolls, piled up so innocently in that basket next to my plate. I really wanted to take one more roll, slather it in butter and have it to chase my steak. But I took a moment and looked at my plate, where there were a few more bites of tenderloin and about four more florets of broccoli and cauliflower. I asked myself, “Am I really hungry? If I am really still hungry, then I can have some more vegetables instead of bread” But, I really wasn’t hungry, I just wanted the feeling of that tasty bread and butter. After realizing this, I was able to find the discipline to not take the other roll.

Have you ever found yourself in this situation? Have you been able to find the will power to overcome your desires for more food even though you have eaten enough already? Have you thought about asking the server not to bring the bread to the table? Or to leave the rice off your order? 

For me, it took some time, more than a year, to be able to find the discipline to have snacks in the house without the need to eat them immediately. But, this is something that I work through daily; somedays I win the battle, somedays I don’t, but what’s important is that the next day I keep working towards my goals.

Eat something nutritious and healthy today! I'll join you in that!

~Samara