Wellness Wednesday
On Wednesday I like to focus on food.
Food choices.
Food preparation.
Food in general.
I love food. That’s why I became a chef. I love to cook and watch people enjoy the food I make for them. I love to see the pleasure on someone’s face when they take a bite and it surprises them. Feeding people brings me passion. And feeding people delicious, healthy meals brings me true joy. When the food is so good they just want to keep eating, even when they are full.
But… That’s not good. Eating beyond fullness is not good for you. No matter if you are eating healthy or not. Eating more food than your body should take in is bad, and your body will punish you for it.
Punishment:
#1 – You are going to feel bad after you are done eating; both physically and mentally. That feeling of your gut expanding against your waistline and the guilt for over eating. Trust me, I know. I’ve been there more times than I care to count (remember my stretchy pants?).
#2 – Your body is going to process that excess food into fat. You have just triggered your ‘storage system’, where your body converts excess calories into fat to be saved for later. The most biological of instincts. No matter what, you cannot change this fact about our bodies. When presented with excess food your body will convertthe calories to be stored as fat.
#3 – You will have to work 3 times as hard to remove the calories from your system once they have been converted to fat. So instead of just burning an extra 500 calories, you will now have to burn 1500 calories. To put that into perspective, you would have to walk an additional 10 miles to burn off the extra calories. And at 15 minutes a mile, we are talking about an hour and half of extra walking. Who’s has that much spare time?
So, is over eating worth it? HELL NO! It never is. I’m not saying you shouldn’t eat good food, just don’t over do it. Eat slowly and enjoy your food, just like your Mom told you all those years ago (actually, my Mom still tells me that).
So that’s the wellness tip for today. Eat slowly. Enjoy the food that has been put before you. Don’t scarf it down and ask for thirds. Savor each bite. Have conversation while eating. Be deliberate.
I hope you all are tracking what you’re eating on our food log. It’s the most important first step, becoming aware. If you haven’t downloaded the food log yet, sign-up below and I’ll send a printable version to you.
Also, check out my recipes pages for great ideas on what to make tonight. I’ll be adding some new recipes here in the next couple of days.