has anyone changed their eating habits?

I never used to eat breakfast and would be more hungry in late afternoon and evening.

I eat breakfast now and this past month, especially since giving up eating late evenings for lent, I notice I'm hungrier 10-2 pm and evenings are not the problem to handle, like when I first began this journey.

I think this is better to eat more earlier in the day, I was just never able to do it before.

Have any of you noticed subtle (better) changes in your eating habits?

Before I started I never ate breakfast.  Whenever I did, I'd be starving before lunch.  I never figured it out.  When I did start eating breakfast I experienced the same thing...very hungry an hour or so after breakfast and starving by lunch.  I added in a fruit snack between breakfast and lunch and I drank at least a glass or two of water as well.  It's going on a year now and I am rarely hungry before lunch.

I'm much more conscious of how much fiber I'm getting in my diet. I also am religious about being sure I'm getting enough protein in my breakfast and lunch. I used to just eat really light meals early in the day and that does tend to make you REALLY hungry later.

I eat more often than I used to, but I only eat a little bit at a time. I feel like I am always eating, but I'm still consuming a lot less calories than I used to.

I've been consistant with eating breakfast in the past week. Which has helped me stay on a normal eating cycle instead of just stuffing my face with fatty foods because I either let myself go too hungry for too long, or I wasn't paying attention to how huge of servings I was giving myself. Also, eating breakfast helps me to not feel so hungry throught the day, so when lunch time etc comes around I'll eat once I know my stomach can handle some food, but not once I'm absolutely starving (helping to prevent overeating).

Part of my change I can thank my new position at work for, which forces me to actually be awake in the morning for breakfast, and givies me normal lunch hours. Somehow I have more time to goof off before work even though I'm waking up a lot earlier too.

I stopped forcing myself to eat breakfast early.  It always made me hungrier or nauseous.  Now I eat breakfast about four hours after I wake up and I'm fine the entire day, stay on track with my eating, and I still don't get light headed and dizzy often.

I'm a lot more careful about portion-sizes than I was in the past.  My food was healthy and my eating habits were fine but I just served up far too much.  Since dusting off the kitchen scales I haven't had a problem since.

yes, after weighing foods for a long time to get a realistic idea of 'serving size' I now use a small sauce dish for my cereal and not the big cereal/soup bowls.  I eat on lunch plates more often and not the big dinner plates.  

the trouble wasn't all me........it was my big dishes! 

 

eating breakfast has been a huge thing for me, too.  i used to skip it, then sometimes would skip lunch, too, then in the late afternoon & evening would stuff my face with whatever i could get in my mouth fast enough.

now i always eat breakfast within 90 minutes of getting up.  i would eat it sooner, but my coffee doesn't taste as good after i've eaten.  i typically eat four smallish meals a day, avoid processed foods, have cut waaaay back on my salt intake, and eat very few refined carbs.  luckily, i never had much of a sweet tooth, so that's not an issue for me.

That's another thing that has changed about my eating: what I serve my food on.  I use the really big plates for serving and the smaller 6" plates to eat on.  Definitely makes a difference when I'm serving myself.

Making sure I eat enough fibre, protein and fruit/veg.

I started counting calories a year ago, and in the course of the year, my eating habits have changed completely.  Breakfast used to have a couple hundred calories of carbs, if anything at all.  Or maybe a very late breakfast, after getting STARVED, in which I ate a LOT more, but still almost all carbs.  Then a big lunch (dinner as lunch, typically, with more starchy carbs like pasta, rice, potatoes) and a late, big dinner which all came from cans and packages.  Way too many carbs, EMPTY carbs, not even half the fiber I should, too much fat, and not NEARLY enough protein. 

Counting calories and striving to keep it properly balanced gradually changed EVERYTHING.  I now eat 400-600 calories by 10 am, divided into breakfast and snack, that includes fruit/berries, high-fiber cereal, and a protein.  Lunch is 400 to 500 calories of protein and steamed or roasted veggies.  A premium, high chocolate treat in the afternoon.  And finally "dinner" is about 200 calories  nothing cooked--hubby brings it to me and I eat it in the car, on the way to the gym.  It's usually raw fruit or veggies, and another item like nuts, string cheese, or a high fiber granola bar--depending on what I still need for my day.  And after working out, a protein shake.  On days I don't work out, I decrease the calories calories for each meal so as to maintain the desired deficit.

Oh yes! I eat small amounts over the day.  By logging everything, I make sure I am getting the right balance.

After 10 months:

It's automatic to not use salt or think about salt like I used to.

It's automatic to eat smaller meals and not gorge like I used to.

It's automatic almost to not turn to mindless eating when bored, sad, happy.

It's automatic to take a power bar, or little PB sandwich if I'm going to be away from home for several hrs, so I'm not starving when I get home.

It's automatic to avoid fast food restaurants.

I used to be the WORSE eater and I mean the WORSE. I used to eat one HUGE meal a day then maybe something before I went to bed. I ate fries and chips almost everyday. NEVER ate veggies. My daily meal would either come from Wawa or Mc D's. I never ate breakfast. Ate out A LOT and would almost always have dessert. I used to weigh about 135/140. It if was not that I am so active...I would have been A LOT heavier.

Then, my normal healthy self, got sick (not realated to eating). I realized that I better take better care of this body. Being sick did allow me to "detox" from all the junk food and start new, as I recovered.

Now, I eat 6 mini meals a day. Breakfast as soon as I get up. Read the labels on EVERYTHING that I eat. Don't eat fast food or hoagies from Wawa anymore. Rarely eat fried foods. Eat a lot of lean protein and veggies. Healthy fats. Stopped drinking soda or sugar Iced Teas. I lost about 30 pounds.

  I never used to eat breakfast and most times I skipped lunch as well. Lots of coffee though! I needed the caffein just to keep going!! I was a mess, my skin terrible, my breathing was terrible, my heart was constantly pounding in my chest and I wasn't doing anything! My energy was so low I could barely move in the evenings. I needed a drastic change so I thought I would make a lifestyle change instead of going on a diet.  I now eat breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner and then snack. Before I would be starving when I got home from work. Grab and nibble until dinner, have a huge amount of meat, 4 x's the recommended serving if not more at dinner time and then nibble all night. I eat so much healthier now. I've changed to 100% multigrain breads, healthy cereals, low fat cheese, milk etc, way  more fruit and proper serving sizes. I never cook with salt, I've cut sugar from my tea and coffee and I slowly weaned myself off cream in my coffee; I'm down to 1% now and I'm aiming for black coffee. This has been an ongoing change and I still have improvements to make.

The results? I feel so much better, my skin, my hair, my energy, everything is improving. I am no longer bloated, my hernia is no longer bothering me, my heart rate has returned to normal, no more restless achy legs at night etc. I feel great and I want to stay this way!!!

Another thing I do now.......I just leave my measuring spoons and measuring cups on the counter, because I'm always measuring.

Original Post by ohio45:

Another thing I do now.......I just leave my measuring spoons and measuring cups on the counter, because I'm always measuring.

That's what I do now but never used to measure anything.  Never ate breakfast and very little if any lunch, gobbling dinner. 

It took awhile to learn to eat properly but I do now and look forward to it with 5-6 meals a day.

Learned to make sure that fats/protein/carbs were taken in proper ration and plenty of fiber.

Thanks for this thread Ohio and Happy Easter to all!

I went to Old Country Buffet today and ended up eating grapefruit, salad, cantaloupes and egg whites. It totalled to about 350 calories. In the past I probably consumed 4000 calories in one sitting at that place. The best part was that the desert section looked horrible! I no longer put food in my mouth just because it gives me something to do. I actually enjoy eating and tasting the food.

I've changed my eating habits 180 degrees! In the OLD DAYS...I consumed around 5,000 - 6,000 calories or more, every day. Fiber? Protein? Carbs? All I could relate to was the Fat content of food. Sodium consumption was over 10,000 mg., DAILY.  I would be out of breath just bending over. So, I went cold-turkey and changed my life.  Now, I know the importance of fiber and protein and carbs and yes, the good fats.  I avoid fast food restaurants as if they have the plague.  I haven't added salt to food in 3 months and I don't miss it. I watch the processed foods too. I prepare everything I eat now. Like the others said, I don't just put food in my mouth just to be doing something or for emotional comfort. I completely changed my ways. And I feel like a lean, mean, fighting machine! Thats after losing only 30 lbs! I can't wait to see how I feel after losing 80 more. My energy level is out the roof! I'm still a really big woman but I feel like I can rip trees up out of the ground! Of course, I still run the other way when I see a spider.