Solutions for a Nutrition Control Problem
Written by Fritz Nugent
This common scenario was shared with me by one of my clients who works at a busy clinic. She agreed that others could also benefit from my response and was willing to let me share. So here we go…
“I just have a real problem with control. For example, yesterday, I had a full morning of clients and was so hungry by noon, that I ate a whole bag of chips while my nutritious lunch was cooking in the microwave. And, I eat breakfast super early in the morning (usually at 6am). So I’m hungry by 10:30. But I can’t usually eat lunch until 1:00, with no time for a snack in between. So I just binge all afternoon! I felt horrible about myself yesterday. And I’d prefer not to give up potato chips altogether. They are a satisfying treat that makes me happy.”
My Response
For your current binge eating situation:
- Eat more carbs for breakfast and for lunch. This may help offset some of your hunger moving forward.
- You don’t have a single minute of overlap between clients between 6:00 am and 1:00 PM? Can’t even sneak a 200-calorie protein bar? Even something small like that may help you to have more control at lunch time while you await the microwave.
- You can definitely continue to eat chips. Make sure they fit your calories and macros, so moderation here is key. And planning. Chips have fat and carbs, so if you can fit those carbs and fats into your daily needs, then they fit. The moderation part here – they are void of other micronutrients, so they aren’t an optimal choice. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make room for some of them. Plus, with how active you are at work and at Invictus, I imagine that your calorie needs and carbohydrate needs are high. So you’ll need to get a large percentage of your carbohydrates from complex sources, and chips can satisfy part of that need.
This is just one example of how you can utilize nutrition coaching to meet your goals through tweaking lifestyle and habits to fit your personal needs. Do you need a little personalized guidance to get to where you want to be? Invictus Nutrition is currently accepting new clients!
