Hi Melissa, welcome to the forum
First I want to congratulate you on your chosen profession and simply say thanks! So many lives are saved because of EMT's yet so little fan fair, keep up the great work. Now to your issue. First I want you to forget the eating schedule, it doesn't exist as we've been taught. Eating schedules come from long ago when life styles demanded it. Farmers and ranchers would get up before sunrise and hit the fields doing hard work. Sun up would come and it was time to head home for biscuits, flap jacks, salt pork and so on. After eating it was time to return to the fields for more hard labor, of course the sugar taken in from the flour during breakfast all gets burned off. Now the sun is high in the sky and noon has rolled around, back to the ranch for more of the same then it's back to the fields for more hard work. When the sun drops and daylight dims it's time to return home for dinner. Stew with home grown veggies and meat with biscuits was a common meal. Then off to bed until the rooster crow's.
2010- desks, chairs, air conditioning, cars, buses, trains and trips to the grocery store and fast food joints now prevail. Everything changed except.....eating schedules. I want you to think of it this way, would you put gas in your car if it didn't need it? Then why put food into your body unless it needs it?
All of our schedules are different and all of us need food at different times. I want you to take the "ceremony" out of meal time and connect with your body. Write down the times you are truly hungry in a note pad and only eat just before that time. The reason for eating just before that time is to avoid that "I'm ravished" feeling. Then only eat as much as you need to satisfy the need, no more. If 15 minutes later you have an overfull feeling you ate too much, too fast. Next time cut the portion in half, eat, wait 15 minutes and see how you feel. If you still feel hungry pick away at more food until you're satisfied. You may find yourself eating 5-7 small portions per day at the weirdest times instaed of three planned meals a day....that's OK because it's your body not "their" schedule.
Now let's talk about food. Of course I want you to follow the guidelines in my book for sugar intake. You can make this easy on yourself weather you carry your food with you or stop at McDonald's. To eat fast food simply order your double cheeseburger and a house salad without croutons. Hold the ketchup please, loaded with sugar. Now throw away the bun and place the burger and contents on top of you salad and enjoy. In the book I have many "snack trays" which are easily carried with you. I hope this clears your issue
Please invite your Mom and Dad to join the forum, we all want to meet them!
