Hope you had a great weekend! This is the first week for many of us going back to work after the holidays. It is exciting that it is a new year, brimming with possibilities that we can start implementing this week! 🙂
It is a popular axiom that you should not eat all at once until you feel stuffed, because your brain only kicks in that you are full about 20 minutes later, and by then you will have eaten much more food that you really need.
There is a very practical digestive reason not to stuff yourself, besides the fact you feel horribly bloated and fat…
We do not want to stuff ourselves to the max because we want to maintain a percentage of SPACE in our stomach for the gastric, digestive juices to work and efficiently break down our food. If we are chock full, and have eaten to 100% capacity, the juices have little room to move and work in our stomach, and this greatly slows down digestion. Slow digestion leads to weight gain or an inability to lose weight easily, as well as greater levels of toxicity in our bodies to be stored.
Therefore, only eat until you are about 3/4 of the way full.
If you have stuffed yourself full of bread for instance, until there is truly NO more room, then the partially digested bread will be trapped in your belly and will start to ferment. This can lead to lodged toxicity in the body, as UNfriendly bacteria and yeast wll feed off the fermented matter and make even MORE unfriendly bacteria and yeast growths like candida. Liver function will also slow down.
You’re heard it a million times and here’s another reminder going into the new year: Eat really slowly and chew your food really well. This will prevent you from “accidentally” loading up to 100% capacity before you’re realized that you’ve done so! The good news is that we can prevent the heavy feeling by making this simple yet crucial improvement in daily habits to support our beauty and health goals NOW!
Be conscious while you are eating and choose foods that increase metabolism. Sit at a table to eat. And I don’t mean your desk at work! You must get away to eat lunch, even if it is just for a few minutes. Eating while working is a sure recipe for unconscious eating and impaired digestion. Don’t read while you eat. Focus on your food and every bite. And let’s come into every meal with a conscious attitude of gratitude. All of us reading this are so fortunate and blessed to have access to good quality food. Let’s treat it with the respect it deserves and take our time to eat it consciously, so it transforms into an energy that works to support of body- not overload it!
So only eat to fill about 3/4 of your belly’s capacity, and allow the energy and digestive juices to flow!!
In Love and Health,
Kimberly
I just love your articles…To hear eat slowly reminds me of what my grandmother used to say. Good reminders of what we should do, Thank you
Yes Granny knew what was up. 🙂
It’s funny…I KNOW this is the path to take, yet having the reminder solidifies that it’s something I need to be conscious of day in and day out….thank you for the kick!
You’re welcome! 🙂 We all need a kick, and to be conscious of certain things!
Great post- so simple but so important! Happy New Year 🙂
Happy New Year Julia!!
Hi Kimberly, I recently found your site and LOVE it! I am new to green smoothies and raw eating. I have significant health issues. I am a mama to nine who five months ago was diagnosed with severe adrenal exhaustion. I have come a long way, but blood sugar issue continue to plague me. When I do smoothies I tend to get ‘shaky’, kind of my ‘blood sugar’ feeling. I often times seem hungry as soon as I am done. I limited the banana to about 2 inches per huge smoothie, divided into two days. I guess I have been convinced so long that I need protein, ie meat/eggs ect. I wonder is this possbile for me. I do eat only grass-fed organic meats. I also limit my fruits to two a day, so a smoothie seems to be super high in ‘sugars’ to me. Please help with any advice. Here is my current smoothie:
water
lots of spinach
1 apple
1 pear
2 celery
2 inch banana
1 T. coconut oil (in hopes to help with blood sugar)
Do I just need to ‘push’ through the symptoms to get used to eating like this. Like I said, I only eat small amounts of protein and veggies, and maybe two fruits, a grapefruit and apple.
thank you for your blog and advice. Like I said, I LOVE it!
HI Michelle,
It sounds like you might have some kind of yeastedness in your body like Candida or an imbalance with too much unfriendly bacteria. It is important to deal with this condition, and take a holistic look at your entire diet and habits. If you are interested in a consultation, email me at info@kimberlysnyder.net for info.
If you feel shaky and hungry, why don’t you stop eating fruit for at least a month, and focus on veggies. Have salad to start lunch and dinner, and definitely start taking a probiotic every day! Raw, cultured foods like raw sauerkraut and raw pickles would be helpful also.
xx Kimberly
I love you. That is all.
Great advice. I need to work on that rule.
BTW, I mentioned winning a signed copy of your book on my latest blog post (http://rawdorable.blogspot.com/2011/09/paint-edible-rainbow.html). THANK YOU so much! I’m giving my original copy to my sister (I couldn’t part with it before now).
Hi:
I stumbled on your site a few weeks ago. Thank you! I have been steadily improving my diet. I cut out bread. I am doing brown rice and whole grain stuff. That was hard. I am eating more veggies. Yesterday and today I just ate food from some place that had live or vegan food and I tried a green smoothy today and yesterday. i am 45. I have yet to see any weight loss. I am stuck at 132 and am 5 foot 2 inches. I lose if I eat 800 caleries. When I ate 1200 or more I stay the same. So I have decided on 1500-2000 with lots of excercise. Any advice from you would be great. i have found your site so helpful. I have real hormonal and energy issues and I find when I am really strick with food and excercise lots I feel better.
Thank you so much.
Terri Cohen
Reading Tutor