Meal Time! Open Book Blog Hop #489

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

---

Topic #489

Are you a breakfast, lunch, or dinner person?
What does your ideal meal look like?

Welcome back to another Open Book Blog Hop, Friend! The authors included in this ongoing learning series wish to thank you for your reading. Even more so, we appreciate that you share our writing with friends. If you’re new to the series, welcome aboard. The authors engage and impress weekly. Prepare to become a regular reader.

If you’re not familiar, let me start by saying that a section of my blog is called Culinary K for good reason! In addition, I post often about meal time and cooking on my social media. In recent times, I have gotten a bit away from that. I feel stagnant again. This happened with photography. Getting out to try new spots in both of these areas has just been very difficult to manage. When you work fulltime to support yourself and have a little one, you cram your writing into what time is left, and that is not much.

So, about meal time. Which of the the main three are my favorite? All of them, snack time, too! I love food. I’ve had to make adjustments to my life to meet that love on a healthy level, too. When I was a kid, my great gran gave me a bit of a complex because I only ate when I was hungry, and that made her think something was up with me. I was small and not hungry. Therefore, she applied the bad news items: donuts and pastries, anything I would take. And, now, I have an addiction I can’t quit.

Do not despair, dear reader! I have learned to live with this nagging feeling. It can be really strong some days and it can make me so frustrated, but there are ways for me to game the brain. No, I don’t always win. None of us do. That said, working out regularly, and making smart choices has gone a long way to ensuring I am not having huge health issues from it. I was headed that way, but the warning sounded and I heeded the alarm.

Let’s get into the meal time.

One of my favorite things is to have breakfast for dinner. If I didn’t have to work full time, I would only eat a couple times a day, and have light snack in the evening. That extra meal a day has not helped me maintain a good weight. I am not sure why we think we have to have three squares a day. I’m just a couple inches over five feet tall. My ideal weight is 115-120 pounds. Three squares puts me at 130-150, depending on how active I get. And, my cholesterol rises. Not good. If I eat my two meals and a snack, I hit my perfect calories, keep a balanced nutrition, and I’m not hungry. My weight goes down and my cholesterol stays good.

All that calorie label, and guidance is junk when it ignores the person’s size, gender, and other factors. My diet should never be 2,000 calories. The amount of weight I would put on if I ate that much! I would not be able to work out enough to keep it off. There’s not enough time in a day. 1,100 is the base line, they say. I have to agree. If I don’t get at least that, I feel very sickly. That said, I only need 1-200 more calories per day to meet my overall needs. Try breaking up 1,200 calories for three meals. It’s hard! Most meals are 500-600 calories.

All of this creates patterned eating, because you figure out what meals work, and what don’t. You create a repetitive menu and obliterate the diversity. This limits the amount of nutrients you can intake, as well. You’ll find deficiencies (or supposed ones). Do I really need all that protein at my height and weight? They say so, but most diets are based on a man who is taller and heavier than me. It doesn’t truly adjust for my size, even in apps that offer balance.

Striking that balance is a bit of a puzzle. The good part is that it keeps my mind busy. The bad part is, I spend way too much time focused on food, which is self-defeating (especially with an addiction problem). I’d truly rather be focused on my art. When I am not working a job, I can focus on writing and creating to the point I literally forget to eat. That’s right, the job is not helping me! It may pay the bills, but it’s creating stress and scenarios that are health adverse. Retirement looks better and better every day!

Honestly, I have not met a meal I haven’t liked. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, of course, but it gets my point across. I love food but wish It was inconsequential to me. The prep is extensive and the payout minimal. Frustration is the best way for me to express the feeling. After whipping up a meal for up to an hour, you sit down and consume it in minutes. You can’t slow down the intake either. Hot food gets cold and cold food gets room temp, fundamentally altering the experience. Even if you do savor each bite, It will still only take a fraction of the time to make the meal.

A great way to avoid this is to prepare things you can freeze and heat later. That way, the prep is down to very little. Sure, you might spend the weekend cooking up a storm, but when it comes time to sit down to a meal the rest of the week, it feels like a balance of time preparing and eating, and it makes it more satisfying. Things I often freeze: chili batches, spaghetti sauce (some pasta dishes like baked ziti and lasagna), soups, stews, pulled pork, boneless chicken (to add to salads, etc), beef strips, hamburgers, pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausages, and pizza, and various baked items. (Have you tried stuffed peppers like this? I have not yet, but am interested to know if it works?)

You can’t freeze everything, but you can freeze quite a bit to ease your meal prep burden later. A purchased bread like a baguette can be sliced up and frozen for use later, too. It extends the life of your food and makes it a quick fix on weeknights. You control what is in the meal, making sure you get nutritious, safe food. It’s a great solution. It also creates a scenario where you can eat anything at any time of the day, as you see fit. Now the timeline of those three squares can be shifted. Breakfast for dinner is a win in my book.

Sometimes, I like a bowl of fruit in the middle of the day, and nothing more. Sometimes I want a full on meal. That’s why I like to wake up closer to brunch than early in the day. I’d prefer early risings to be rare and special. Then, I would only eat supper in the late afternoon (tea time, I believe, for my UK friends) and have snack around 8 in the evening. What does a typical day for me look like?

Work day:

Breakfast: cereal or oatmeal with flaxseed, coffee; maybe some fruit depending on the rest of the day’s plan.

Lunch: a sandwich, soup, or bagel; or, a purchased frozen lunch; fruit/veggie

Dinner: a protein, two vegetables, possibly a starch (like bread, pasta, cornbread/muffin); or, a hot breakfast meal like pancakes/waffles, eggs; or, maybe pizza.

Snack: anything around 200 calories, but usually a nut mix of some kind, popcorn, or wheat or rice crackers.

Weekend:

Brunch: a ham and cheese scone, or bagel, or hot breakfast option

Snack: sliced fruit, or plantain chips, or snack chips

Dinner: a protein, two vegetables (potato and broccoli, for instance), possibly a starch (like bread, pasta, cornbread/muffin); or, a hot breakfast meal like pancakes/waffles, eggs; or, maybe pizza

Snack: anything around 200 calories, but usually a nut mix of some kind, popcorn, or wheat or rice crackers.

All of this requires skill in planning. I have an app that helps me track my meals, so that they fit together and meet my caloric needs. It’s not perfect! Sometimes, especially at the holidays, i go off the rails. Some items get forgotten or purposely missed. Like, I did not mention the small piece of chocolate at 2 or 3pm. I can run a lap around the house to earn that easily.

You might wonder what is my favorite day, since I mentioned things getting repetitive for ease of planning. That is Friday. Traditionally, I have my most diabolical day on Friday. For breakfast, I will have a sweet, kid type cereal like Trix with almond milk (I cannot eat milk as it puts weight on me and creates stomach issues) and a coffee with non-dairy creamer. For lunch, I eat an “English” muffin with peanut butter and a couple pieces of bacon (yes, like a sandwich. Don’t knock it till you tried it) and a fresh apple. For dinner, I have pizza (pepperoni, or supreme) with a couple chicken strips on the side, along with a soda (pepsi zero, for instance). For snack, I have a bit of popcorn, or a Patterson’s jam shortbread. Best day! Yes, it all fits.

The key to maintaining my health/diet, is moderation. You mix and match. I figure it out if I want something bad. If, for instance, I want Five Guys burgers and fries, i make sure I am tight the rest of the week on my calories and eat a very light brunch. Then I have the Five Guys and ignore the overage. It doesn’t happen enough to be a problem–not even once a month. Easiest meals out to fit: my sushi. Worst: Five Guys. I eat chinese take out pretty regularly.

Maintaining–you figure it out, and apps can help. Being honest with yourself is the biggest key. Overestimating the calories for something that is questionable in the app is better than underestimating. A deficit will even out far more easily than trying to burn enough to balance–either way you’ve created a deficit. If you’re looking to lose pounds, that’s the goal. Just take it easy on yourself. No starving! Don’t make yourself sick. Eat for your ideal size, and diminish your intake to that goal gradually, so you don’t get sick. Above all, enjoy your food. Use the app to help you fit the pieces together.

Tips: eat lighter early in the day, so you don’t face the rest of the day in austerity. Far more rewarding! Make lunch heavier if you eat dinner later. I use my late snack as a reward for doing good all day. Cheats can be within your number, but you won’t seek them if you let yourself have the things you love. Just use reasonable portions. Then, enjoy your holidays and random cheat rewards. And, exercise! No getting away from that. Find something you like (I like my bike).

Meal time can be a conundrum when you are battling health issues, time, and costs. That said, there are things you can do to make it more rewarding. Hopefully my process has given some tips and insight on what can be done. When you’re open to all flavors, it opens the possibilities. Even more important, a schedule that is dictated by you goes a long way to managing meal time. Don’t stress when you can adapt. It’s okay to love food.

Let’s hop through the other responses the authors made on this hop, via the scrolling box below. I look forward to some meal ideas, how about you? Don’t forget to subscribe before you go. Drop that email in the box (over there on the right or down if you are on your phone). See you next time!

---

---