Week Nine: Tweak Week

This week went well! 

I managed to not eat until I got home, and though I found myself still eating too much on occasion, I didn't gorge or overdo anything snacky. I missed having breakfast foods this week, so I might be coming home and making breakfast instead of eating leftovers.

(Me in my favorite shirt!)

I was on my feet a bit more this week- I even had a standing conversation for over thirty minutes! For someone who couldn't be on her feet for more than a few minutes at a time, this is a new level of awesome. Of course, after that long, I really needed to sit because of complaining knees!

Weekends are harder to stick to a four-hour window, so I'm not doing that any longer. I decided that having breakfast with the family is more important. So my husband adjusted and makes a late breakfast for everyone, and I get to eat and enjoy my first meal with my husband and kids. 

Just because the window is open doesn't mean I have to eat all that time, so instead of three meals in my longer window, I had two meals with a small snack in the middle. Since Sundays are open for people to visit around dinnertime, a longer eating window not only allows me to eat with friends, but I don't feel like I'm pressuring them to eat too early, and I can extend my time by eating slower while having a conversation.

Changing the eating window times over the weekends will also help my metabolism not settle into a routine so I can burn more during the workweek. 

To recap, I have three to four-hour windows during the week and six to eight-hour windows on the weekends. I'm standing up more, eating healthier, and eating more natural snacks, like nuts. Yum!

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay 

Tweaks to work on are moving more, eating less at meals, and adding more veggies to the menu. We have been eating more veggies, but I feel we could increase the amount a lot more, and maybe have some veggies ready-cut for snacking as well. 

Some days I feel the need to stuff myself with more than I know I need, simply because I have a small window and I have an unfounded fear that I'm not going to get enough nutrition. I know it's silly, but it can become an obstacle at times. I also tend to be a stress eater, and the hunger pangs get bad when I'm stressed. That's another good reason to not have any food in the van!

I wore my leggings the other day when we went out (you know, the ones that didn't fit in the beginning?), and I was feeling so skinny! It felt really good to be out and about in clothing that fits comfortably without making me feel like a hippo. I'm starting to dislike wearing my go-to clothing (sweat pants), but it's cold out, so I'm wearing them to work- for now.

My energy level had remained pretty peppy, and walking is getting a lot less painful. I haven't done any long walks outside yet, but then again, there wasn't much time to walk this past week (I'll tell you why in my other blog, Footprints in the Mud- soon to be posted after this blog post). Now we're getting into Thanksgiving, so there won't be much time for it this week either, I suspect, but my husband took off this week, so we might have a little extra time to go for a walk while the pies are baking and doughs are rising.

Speaking of this week, I'm not 'taking off' from this eating lifestyle to feast until I burst. I plan to have a little of everything, but I also want to eat slowly and pause for a bit before the next course. The window will be as wide as it needs to be, but not more than six to eight hours- I don't plan on eating breakfast unless we eat it closer to noon.

Oh! Did I mention we are doing a Friendsgiving on Sunday? We usually have it that Friday, but we felt spacing it out would be best for everyone involved. Besides, since we're having Thanksgiving at his sisters' house, we won't have a fridge full of leftovers until Sunday!

The best part will be the leftovers will last a lot longer since I'm not eating them all within a few days. Smaller and fewer portions make the food last! I might even make a few 'Thanksgiving bowl combos' for the freezer so I can have them when I'm in a 'fowl' mood...

Hah!

That's it for this week. I hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving and don't forget to tell everyone at the table what you're thankful for this year- other than 2020 is almost over, that is- I think we're all thankful for that!