Have you heard of the “Eat by the clock” concept – or establishing regular eating hours?
“What… there is a concept? Isn’t it, just eat when you need to or when you’re hungry?”
Well, eating may sound simple but there’s so much more than just “eating foods”.
We already know that a major health factor depends on WHAT we eat, but not everyone knows that WHEN we eat is also a factor, the same goes with the WHY.
“That is complicated.”
It may sound like it, but it’s not. It’s even way simpler than weight loss programs, nutrition rules, supplements, and the rest.
THE SIMPLE WAY
It’s as simple as…
“Eat healthy food on regular hours to get proper nutrition and nourishment for the body and the brain.”
And on top of that, eat in company if you prefer, because it will feel better if that is your preference.
THE BIGGER PICTURE OF HAVING REGULAR EATING HOURS
Following our internal biological clock should do the trick.
Like in sleeping, we have clocks set in our brains, and it’s called the circadian clock which regulates a whole bunch of hormones and other processes in our body.
Sticking to our body clocks makes us feel well and on the other hand skipping it makes us feel ill.
The scientists behind this circadian clock system even got the Nobel Prize 2017 for this.
TIPS TO REMEMBER
Sometimes, people find it hard to keep track of their eating so I’d like to share a few techniques that can help.
1. THE MODEL TO USE
The model to use is called “The 321 route”. I called it 321 to make it easier to remember.
321 stands for 3 main meals per day + 2 snacks in between and only 1 serving per meal on a regular plate.
Following this helps our brain get the constant energy levels it needs to work in a perfect way over the day.
Always putting too much food on your plate? Swift to a smaller one and your brain will trick you that you already have too much on your plate. Give it a try. 🙂
2. EAT 3 COLORS A DAY.
Eat 3 different colored fruits and vegetables. So instead of eating an apple a day to keep a doctor away, eat 3 different colors a day on your fruits and veggies.
If it’s colorful, it’s good because the colors are our vitamins, the antioxidants.
WHAT, WHY, AND WHEN TO EAT
Believe me when I say that there’s absolutely NO NEED to create crazy “food rules” for yourself. It can be as simple as WHAT, WHY, and WHEN.
1. THE WHAT
A little bit of everything. Eat a little bit of everything because we are biologically made to eat everything that is naturally out in nature: meat, fish, greens of all kinds, nuts, fruits, and berries. This will give a variety of protein, fats, and carbohydrates that are needed for a healthy body.
A varied diet will also give the minerals and vitamins that we need without having to use supplements.
If I should give one specific piece of advice on what NOT to eat, it would be the refined products like white sugar, flour, and what is made from that like white bread.
2. THE WHY.
This must be the easiest question to answer.
We have to eat to get energy – both for the body and for the mind on a regular basis over the day.
And not only for the energy but for the minerals, vitamins, and especially those essential substances that we can’t produce internally in the body.
If you want a healthy body, you have to feed it with good building material, not just empty calories.
Feeding yourself with junk, including the so-called energy drinks drains your energy by hi-jacking your blood-sugar system, you get speeded and then drained quickly – turning you into a slow thinker.
3. THE WHEN
Biology is very clear on this.
Biology is built on consistency and regularity – the clock in our brains.
And for this remember the very simple 3-2-1 rule I talked about.
Eat 3 main meals and 2 small snacks during the day to balance your blood sugar, keep your
To fully function, the brain needs a steady flow of energy.
OTHER FOOD ISSUES
The other issues around food – celebration, comfort, friendship – have more to do with psychology and behavior – not about the food itself.
BE CAREFUL
People are disagreeing on what you really should eat and I am not going into that discussion.
I get a bit tired of all the people telling you YOU JUST HAVE TO… (and then market their product, supplement, etc.) as this is all about making money.
It’s hard to know which can work or not and it’s not right to have spent a lot of money to figure out which one will work for you as what works for one person might not work at all for another person – for many odd reasons – genetic or metabolic or even cultural.
This is one of the reasons WHY…
I always say that you should eat just GOOD, VARIED food at regular times and regular hours because that’s how we are built, our heritage from back then 200000 years ago. That’s what our body wants and that’s what our brain wants: REGULAR HOURS and GOOD FOOD.
WHAT YOU DRINK
Let’s also talk about what you drink – not just alcohol.
Stay away from soft drinks as it’s mostly sugar and it’s just like what I said about sugar, getting hyped up then suddenly drained.
TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR LIFE
I want to ask you to reflect on your life – what you’re eating and when you’re eating it. Will you be proud of it?
Do you eat good food?
To eating healthily,
