An Ounce Counts

Okay, well I have had trouble deciding what to write about today -- there's so much to choose from! But a lesson from my little baby boy wins.

When my little man was four months old, he still was not sleeping through the night and was eating every two hours. They both were. So, my sister and sister-in-law suggested I just let him eat as big of a bottle as he would eat. I was skeptical, but I decided to add one ounce at a time and try to determine when he was "full." The results? I added one ounce (making six total) with no change -- still eating every two hours. I added one more ounce (making seven total) and -- TADA!!!! He began eating every FOUR HOURS instead of every TWO!!! That made a huge difference in my day.

HOWEVER, it also made me think about what I was eating and made me wonder what would happen if I added just a little bit to each meal, not getting too full but not feeling hungry. The results? Well, so far they've been GREAT. For example, this morning I had my usual cup of oatmeal. This usually holds me over for about an hour and a half. Then I get hungry again. So this morning I added an egg. Three and a half hours later, I was ready to eat again! Seriously! Just adding some protein to my oatmeal, a fairly nutritious addition at that, and I made it more than twice the time between feedings. That's much better than before when I was eating my oatmeal and then a sandwich an hour or so later and then whatever a few hours after that.

So -- try it! Find out what your level of fullness is and how you can maximize it. Like I said in my first post (and will follow up on with a more detailed post later), it is best for your body to fight off the hunger hormone by EATING SIX SMALL MEALS A DAY. Try combining a complex carbohydrate and a lean protein (and something else if you feel the urge to splurge a tiny bit) and see how it holds you over in comparison with just a protein or just a carbohydrate. I think we're onto something here.

Thanks a bunch to my little man -- and my sister and sister-in-law, of course, for the seedling of the idea!