I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion recently that I’m trying to figure out what and how to eat again. I honestly have no idea how it’s going. Some days are better than others in terms of being full, feeling bloated, satisfying cravings, etc. I think it’s still too early to really know what works best for me for sure and things definitely change too.
I’ve also had some really good chats with the wonderful Lindsay of Cotter Crunch and she recommended keeping a journal of not only what I eat, but how it makes me feel. I’ve been doing this for a couple weeks now and it’s nice to be able to go back and see just how I reacted to certain foods. I’ve often used that as a reference when repeating meals to see if my body reacts the same way. I really recommend trying this method if you’re having digestive or other issues; I’ve also been using this to try to eat more intuitively and, as I said before, I think it’s still too soon to really know, but hopefully this works out well!
Pre-Workout
1 peanut butter coconut trail mix healthy bite. Sometimes I need a little something right when I wake up to tide me over during a workout and I love having these little guys. I also seem to be doing well with peanut butter again lately [knock on wood!]
Breakfast
Paleo coconut flour pancakes with peanut fluff. Delicious and incredibly satiating but left me feeling a little bloated. I find that coconut flour can leave me feeling that way sometimes, but not always. These pancakes did pack a pretty powerful punch, though, and kept me full for almost 5 hours!
Lunch
Leftovers: sweet potato noodles, asparagus, kale, a little tequila habanero chicken sausage, shredded chicken thigh, and a little balsamic vinegar. I could eat sweet potato any and all ways for days! It’s a wonder we have any noodles left at all 😉 I noticed that I felt bloated when I had this for dinner on Monday, but no bloating yesterday. Success? Maybe?
Snack
Mashed banana in greek yogurt with a couple dips into my [quickly dwindling] homemade peanut butter. For some reason, I’ve really been craving this combo lately and it makes my stomach happy so this is a win-win. Yay peanut butter!
Dinner
I turned the pecan crusted chicken wrap into a salad and added some roasted bell pepper, onion, broccoli, and cucumber to it for some more veggie punch. We haven’t done salads for dinner in a while so it was nice to have something lighter, though especially filling—plenty of protein, fat, and fiber for a good balance.
Dessert
A raspberry apricot and a piece of black bean protein fudge. The raspberry apricot tasted like a pretty standard apricot. Delicious, but nothing crazy. And I love having the black bean fudge in the freezer for when I want a little piece of chocolate at the end of the day.
I think soon enough I’ll be able to really pinpoint what works best for me, but in the meantime, I’ll keep journaling along and maybe one day in the near future I can have some real results to share! Fingers crossed.
Food for Thought
Do you consider yourself to be an intuitive eater?
Your dinner meal is so colorful & sounds like it’s filled with flavor. I love everything you added w/ the chicken. YUM! Happy your finally able to pin point certain foods that cause bloating. Soon enough you’ll figure it out. I do find drinking ACV w/ water helps reduce bloating when I get it.
Ahh I need to restock my ACV and give that a shot again. Thanks for the reminder 🙂
Your day of food sounds wonderful to me! I love that you make your own peanut butter too. I have been doing that, and yes, it goes pretty quick when it is so addictive! I hope you get your hunger back soon, but with food like that….it shouldnt take long!
Oh my hunger hasn’t subsided! Haha just trying to figure out the foods my body is happy with 🙂
A raspberry apricot?! I have never seen that before – it looks so pretty! In fact, the whole day looks pretty darn delicious to me.
I’m definitely getting there with my eating, sometimes my brain overanalyses things but I am able to listen to my body more and more now so am actually feeling pretty proud of the progress I’ve made 🙂 good luck! It’ll be worth it.
I was hoping for more raspberry flavor to come through, but I’ll just have to try another 😉
I’m glad you’re getting there with your eating too. It’s crazy how much we overthink sometimes!
All your eats are so healthy and the sweet potato in your lunch looks stellar! Love the banana and greek yogurt too – you know that’s my fave.
Seriously I don’t know how the sweet potato has made it to 3 meals! Thought of you with the banana and yogurt 🙂
I would say that I’m sort of an intuitive eater, but it ends up being a little more of “welllll….that freakishly large cinnamon roll looks good and I’m kinda hungry, so it’s okay, right,?”. Not all the time. But it applies to “healthy foods” as well!
Oh my gosh a freakishly large cinnamon roll sounds delicious right now! Haha I tend to be the same way 😉
I should really start journaling what I eat to pin point what it is that makes me bloated… good idea!!
It’s definitely a helpful tool and I’m so glad I started doing it.
I have the same problem with Coconut Flour. I found that I can only eat it in small portions, apparently it has too much fiber in it for my body.
Yea, that could definitely be the issue for me too. Good thought on the portion size!
I could eat sweet potatoes every single day as well! I feel like i’m mostly intuitive. I try to listen to cravings – like if I’m needing more fat or more protein or perhaps carbs all depending on workout intensities and such.
Agreed. It’s definitely day to day and I do think it has a lot to do with the different workouts.
keep me posted friend! i am so glad you are doing this and i hope it helps. Your food looks so nourishing!
Thank you times a million for all of your help so far! This was definitely a satisfying day of food!