Moving Meal Times

Instead of slowing down for the summer, my schedule has gotten intense. With 6 different groups, I mountain bike cross country Mondays, road ride Tuesdays, downhill bike Wednesdays, race cross country Thursdays, ride cross country Fridays, and road ride Saturdays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I also do a Pilates class. Plus I've been averaging 55 hours a week at work. I've been finding it hard to figure out when to eat and what to eat, not to mention how much to eat to fuel for my rides but still lose weight.

I decided it was time to call in a professional. I engaged my friend Marie-Hélène Bourbonnais who is a registered dietician to help me out. We met (via phone as she is Montréal) the first time at the beginning of this week and went over a common sense approach individualized to my needs. It was awesome that MH was already reading my blog so had an idea of my challenges.

I'll be addressing all the different things MH has me work on over the upcoming weeks but the one I wanted to talk about today is the idea of moving meal times. If you haven't guessed already by my riding timetable, I tend to be quite scheduled. I usually eat breakfast at 9 am, lunch at 12:30 and dinner around 7 pm. This has proven a challenge with my summer evening ride schedule. Plus I'm eating at those times whether hungry or not and not eating some times when I'm very hungry.

So, this week I focused on eating my meals not at predetermined times, but rather when I was hungry, and ideally before I was beyond hunger (hangry). Some days that meant lunch at 11 am. Other days at 2-3 pm. If I was really hungry I ate more. If I wasn't as hungry, I'd eat lighter. I tracked everything for MH but tried not to analyze the calories, fat, carbs, and protein like I am wont to do.

An amazing thing happened. I appreciated my meals more. I enjoyed the food more. I didn't overeat to feel I had to make it until my next predetermined meal time. I didn't feel the need for meaningless snacking. If I was actually hungry for a snack I made a nutritious choice. Without ever feeling I was "starving" myself or unsatisfied, a week later, I'd lost 3 pounds.