Observations from living (and eating) out of a box...

This is nothing I didn’t know before. More like I did not realize how much my changed eating habits affected me until…well,  I changed them.

As you all know (cuz I won’t stop talking about it!) I am in the process of moving. Well in anticipation of the move I stopped grocery shopping about two months ago ****ep crazy food stocks in my house so this hasn’t been much of a hardship). Basically I did not want to be spending a bunch of time and energy moving food! 

So the last two weeks or so we are down to the bare essentials (I still buy milk btw). The bare essentials are mostly protein and non-perishable carbs (beans, bread, rice etc.). There isn’t much fat to be found in my kitchen right now – “good" or “bad." 

What I’ve noticed is that with a drastically reduced fat intake (I went from, on a daily average, having about 25% of my calories come from fat to…like…less than 10 the last week or two), I have been HUNGRY all. The. TIME!!! Seriously.

But even funnier than that is that instead of just going and getting a good fat source to round out my meals, I have been turning to the starchy carbs more. And what do they do? Make me even hungrier!

It just makes me think. All those years of dieting I was trapped in this cycle of deprivation and bingeing. I wonder if this was behind it.  

For my part, I picked up a few avocados, some almonds, etc. to snack on (I’m pretty good at moderating almonds). When I eat the proper levels of fat I don’t crave the carbs so much. I don’t know if there is scientific evidence to support that but I know that’s how it is for me.

 

Anyway, that’s my observation.

 I also think we malabsorb more fat than we think we do. I never eat fat free food. Life is too short.
I can control my intake of pistachios and it's fun to crack open the shells. Cashews and pecans I have no control over.

 OMG pecans...girl, don't get me started! I love them any which way: plain, lightly salted, candied (candied!). I heart pecans. But for the fact that the ingredient list for SF pecan pie scares me a bit (and regular would kill me) I'd so make it. Cashews are the same as are peanuts. I think those are the three least healthy nuts, right? (not unhealthy just least healthy of all nuts)

So far as what I keep in stock: almonds and brazil nuts (which are completely tasteless but I eat an ounce at a time cuz I heard they are a good source of selenium).

I have been meaning to integrate pistachos into my plan. You get a gamillion of those suckers for not a lot of calories, right?

I knowfor a fact I malabsorb fat a lot.

I can't control pistachios. Love them too much.  And probably not the almonds I eat either, but I still buy them.  I love the dark chocolate (dusted chocolate, not chocolate candy) and eat a handful or more every day depending on how much exercise I get.  Use to love cashews but not so much any more, at least not to the point where I pig out on them.

 I don’t eat cashews by the handful but I LOVE to put them in salads and in stir fries for that extra bit of CRUNCH!

 

Man I miss having pots and pans and a kitchen to cook in. Soon and very soon!

Cashews in chicken salad.  Heaven.  I also love, love, love the wasabi-flavored almonds.

I dump on high-fat foods, so it is easy for me to control my intake of nuts. 

Nik-I AM THE SAME WAY.  That is why I eat nuts, real butter, real cheese, real peanut butter....and I get a good bit of calories from fat.  BUT if I cut back, I'm starving! 

Oh, and the cashews....yeah....I can eat so many that my fingers are cut from open those suckers....one day I measured how many I could "snack" on....I filled a 1 cup measuring cup with shells.....yummy.....

 You mean pistachios?

Yes, I meant pistachios...must've been wantin some cashews!

I love nuts too, but they don't like me. Constipation!  OMG