Evening Eater

Coming up in the April issue (hopefully out this weekend) is an article by Joyce Buhler on different kinds of eaters. You'll have to read the whole thing to learn which kind of eater you are, but I am an evening eater--it means that I consume most of my calories at the end of the day.

Now, I don't skip breakfast, but I usually gulp down a Boost (a liquid meal) and head off to karate, then eat something for lunch that is easy and out of the freezer because it seems like unnecessary work to fix a meal for just me and the baby. Then I make dinner and hang out on the couch with my husband and usually snack around 8:30 or 9:00 after my boys have gone to bed. I snack on trail mix, eat cookies, or munch on a treat like pie. Occasionally I have a bowl of cereal or a hot dog, but the point is that I eat something because 1. it's a habit I have with my husband, and 2. I am short on my calories from not eating like I should earlier in the day when I'm being active.

Joyce is going to expand on exactly how eating patterns affect weight, but I'm sure my pattern affects my body's metabolism throughout the day. And at night I always reach for convenience foods because I'm not about to cook after the sun goes down.

I can think of ways to change this--obviously eat meals like I should and my two or three healthy snacks a day--but I'm not sure how to build it into my routine. Making lunch seems to take so much time during the day when I'm in the middle of doing other things. I'm okay at eating leftovers if I like them, but that's only a couple of days a week.

Anyway, I will have to decide that eating well is worth my time during the day and make a point of it. I've also fallen away from planning dinners well enough to make sure I have what I need for a healthy meal in the pantry and the fridge. I'll have to work meal planning in general into my week.

AAAACCCCCHHHHH!