1) Don’t make your biggest meal of the day at the end of the day – you will wake up very hungry or possible even wake during the night, because your blood sugar has dropped, this will trigger cravings!
2) Space out your meals 3 -4 hours apart – breakfast, lunch and dinner. Eat enough to leave yourself satiated.
Digestion takes:
- Fruit: 30 minutes
- Starch: 1 hour
- Protein / veggies with good fibre, some carbs: 3 – 4 hours
You should let the digestion of each meal in your stomach be completed before putting more food in! Putting more food in before the other food is digested can cause bloating and gas, as the stomach now has to deal with food that it was almost done processing plus a bunch more food in! So it’s best to eat your meals 3 – 4 hours apart.
3) Meal timing is important too – eat them within 30 minutes of the same time every day, as this will get your body used to this pattern and it will start to figure out when you need it to turn on digestion for you. It will work with you, if you create the cues it needs to do this and eating at roughly the same time each day really helps!
4) Protein! Eat 0.8g / kg of body weight per day. Are you eating too much, or too little – this can cause cravings! Most people need 20g- 25g per meal and if you don’t eat enough, you won’t feel satiated, but overeating protein can cause health issues too. How much protein are you eating per meal?
5) Intermittent fasting daily – most people should fast at least 12 hours over night every night (unless you have hypoglycemia, diabetes or adrenal issues), up to 14 hours. Don’t skip a meal, just ensure you get your 3 meals in (3 – 4 hours apart), during your day time hours and finish eating 2 – 3 hours before bed, so digestion is complete before you go to bed. That way your body can start it’s detox process as it’s supposed to do while you are asleep. If your body is still digesting while you’re asleep it can’t yet start the detox process.