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I'm really not talking about dieting or losing weight. Rather, I'd like to maximize the amount of energy available during daytime and ward off that uhhh-I-should-not-have-eaten-that-giant-burrito feeling.
I'm really not talking about dieting or losing weight. Rather, I'd like to maximize the amount of energy available during daytime and ward off that uhhh-I-should-not-have-eaten-that-giant-burrito feeling.
I eat much less than when I worked and have completely different eating habits. I get up early (5 AM) and get hungry usually around 8:30-9:30 and eat breakfast then. My next meal is around 3-4 PM. I eat when I'm hungry, serve small portions, and stop eating before I feel full. I stop eating while still a bit hungry, but a half hour later I'm full. I don't like the feeling of eating too much.
My eating habits have changed a lot over the last 6 years or so. It started when I realized I was up to 147- hardly obese for a woman who's 5'7", but the highest I'd ever been. I was also working FT and married to an older man who was already retired and did all the cooking- good, down-home stuff. Meat and potatoes, pot roast, bean soup. pancakes, etc. I did not exercise portion control.
I gradually cut down portions and kicked up my workouts a notch. I also cut back on meat and refined carbs because my cholesterol and glucose levels were borderline high and I didn't want to end up on medication. Since DH's death 2 years ago, I eat even less meat (I do eat fish and dairy) and moe vegetables, and exercise more. I've practically cut potatoes, pasta and white rice from my diet and eat more quinoa and bulghur and other "slow carbs".
At this point my weight is hovering around 122 and I feel really good.
I think one's diet usually correlates to one's eating habit and activity level. It's possible that older people eat less because they are less active.
If anything, I am more physically active in retirement with more time for hiking, rowing, working in the yard and fixing things. Preparing for a big move across the country, downsizing, packing, unpacking and yard/garden work in the new home are quite physically demanding. So I still have 5 meals a day (3 main meals + 2 snacks) and with a much more substantial lunch than during my working days.
With no fixed daily schedule, my eating habit does change but mainly with the timing. Since we try to get as much outside work done as possible during the hot months in Idaho, we usually don't have lunch until about 2 pm and dinner at around 7-8 pm. Because we have been working so hard, I have often rewarded myself with desserts before the main courses.
I probably consume more calories per day in retirement. I don't weigh myself very often but my weight has stayed around 98-100 lbs (on a 5'2" frame) which is about the same during my working years.
We are all different in our metabolism and eating habit. There is no way that I would change my diet to whatever is the current fad unless my body tells me so.
Europeans generally only have coffee for breakfast, but they do eat a late dinner. I also eat late.
That is why the Europeans hate each other and having been killing each other for thousands of years. It is that late dinner and lack of food during the day that makes them cranky.
In retirement, down to two meals a day. A high protein breakfast usually egg whites and seafood. No carbs.
Dinner at 3:00pm. Probably the largest meal of the day. Wine starting at noon and done by five. Usually seafood and salad or vegetables.
Small snacks throughout the day.
In the early evening...decafe coffee and small desert usually fruit.
The important part is not to eat late. That makes you gain weight. Go to bed slightly hungry. Don't drink late into the night...that affects your sleep....AND sleep is everything when it comes to good health.
I don't eat a lot either. I find it strange to see people older than me still packing away huge amounts of food! And the food they can eat. South Texas spicy concoctions. My GERD will not allow that.
Good point. I have had dietians and doctors tell that when you suffer from GERD, which I sometimes do, small more frequent meals really help. I find that to be very true. A big meal will put me in agony but I know people who can do just fine on only one large meal a day.
Diets are like clothing, one size does not fit all.
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Otherwise it's just not the same.
