Old Fashioned Ways and Intuitive Eating

It is no surprise to anybody who has read this blog for a while that I have a love/hate relationship with food.  About two weeks ago I realized that I was having a lot of acid reflux issues.  So, what does any self-respecting individual do in that situation?  I googled "acid reflux".  I was handed several pages of things to do to eliminate the issue -- reduce fat intake, reduce portions, reduce acid consumption....operative word -- reduce.  So, I decided to re-think "intuitive eating".

I have never really "gotten" intuitive eating.  Oh, I understand the principals but to actually feel the feeling -- well, it is hard to do when you are sitting with a bag of Chips Ahoy on your lap.  So, after a particularly unpleasant evening of "refluxing" I decided to figure out what that "feeling" was and start listening to it.

The next morning I did just what all the articles said -- I reduced -- everything.  Long about mid-morning I recognized the feeling that I was supposed to identify as hunger.  I ate a small snack, just to eliminate the pangs.  Then lunch came along and while I was hungry I was satisfied enough to make good meal choices.  Mid-afternoon, again with the hunger pangs.  Repeat morning routine.  Dinner rolls around and I do the same with reduced portions.  I go to bed -- not really hungry (I could have eaten a cookie or a dozen) but I didn't, just hit the sack and I slept the soundest I have slept in a long time.

I have continued the process for a couple of weeks, I have lost three pounds, I have apparently successfully shrunk my stomach because I am not hungry enough between meals to require a snack.

I would say I have successfully mastered "intuitive eating".

That brings us to the "old fashioned" part of this blog title.

Back in the "old days" the main meal was eaten at lunch.  Farmers would go to the fields at dawn and their wives would go to the kitchen to prepare a hearty mid-day meal.  The farmers would come in and refuel for the afternoon's work and the wives would save the leftovers for "supper" and continue on with their chores for the day.

In a more modern world, my cousin Dessie used to run her house like this for her husband Pete and their two children, right smack in the middle of San Antonio -- no farmers here and not in the 19th century!

So, I have been thinking about the concept of a bigger noonday meal.  We have late afternoon obligations on a daily basis.  This generally sends us straight to the restaurants.  We both have weight issues and my husband is diabetic -- and he now has a spare tire that looks a bit out of place on his lanky frame.  So, I have decided to further adjust the eating issue in this house.

I read an article that eating a main mid-day meal is healthier overall and for diabetics, it helps with the blood sugar.  So, Hubs is used to eating a light lunch and a full dinner and I am just going to reverse it.

I feel the benefits will outweigh the negatives.  I won't waste so much food because I still grocery shop like I am feeding a teenage boy! I thaw meat, don't get around to cooking it, toss it -- it is a travesty.  Also, I can control all that salt and fat and heaven knows what else that is in the food.  And.....I can get the kitchen cleaned up early and not wait until I am completely bushed.  We will then have our "light" lunch for dinner and then go to bed empty.  My husband tends to snack a lot, beginning as he leaves he dinner table so if he feels his blood sugar will drop too much he can have a snack before bed.  For me, I think I prefer going to bed empty --and waking up empty!


I am anxious to go back in time to explore this old fashioned way of life.  I am hoping that we will both reap health benefits from it and that my pocketbook likes the change as well!

Does anybody here eat their main meal at mid-day?  Thoughts?