The Hungry (Wo)Man’s Meal

There have been numerous times in my life where friends, family, and sometimes even strangers have made “smart” comments about the amount of food I eat, or can eat. I get it honestly. My father can eat half a steak in one bite, and the rest of my family is known for being “big eaters”. I have tried to eat smaller portions, but find myself very often just not satisfied. That’s not to say I was still hungry, I just wasn’t satisfied.  At the request of husband (<–world’s slowest eater) I have tried to eat slower. After meticulously chewing every single bite and still finishing my dinner before he is even halfway done, I came to the conclusion that my chewing mechanisms just work better than most.

When it all comes down to it, I like to eat, and I like to eat A LOT of food. One bite, even three bites are not enough to satisfy my cravings or want for tasting a particular food. Believe me, I’ve tried. 

In seeing my plate filled with copious amounts of food, while my figure stays relatively slim, I have had quite a few friends, family, and even strangers make “smart” comments about “where it all goes” and look at me perplexed “how I stay so skinny”. 

Though I rarely take the time to make a case for myself, the truth is, while I do splurge and gorge on rich foods from time to time, my weekday meals are focused heavily on the most nutrient dense, veggie filled, foods I can pack in, and I work out most days of the week. 

I don’t eat pasta for dinner every night, or even every week. And while I do tend to eat dessert at lunch and dinner, instead of a big slice of cake it usually comes in the form of a square or two of dark chocolate. 

But I do still eat a lot of food. The trick is filling your plate with foods that are flavorful, nutritious, fiber filled, and low density. 

What do I mean by low density?

I mean fresh vegetables and fruits that aren’t laden with calories, preservatives, and (“bad”) fat .

So what does a typical meal look like for me? 

Please note this is a dinner plate, not salad sized. 

No matter what meal, lunch or dinner, I try to always fill at least half of my plate with vegetables, preferably green vegetables. Then leave the other half to the heavier part of the meal. 

This was my lunch today, which of course included a salad. I went with a green theme – romaine, capers, green pepper, pickled peppers, and green onion.

My “main course” was spaghetti squash, scallops (major lean protein points here – 16 gms in just 4 oz, with only 90 cals and 1 gm of fat!), marinara, and feta cheese for a little extra zing.

I’ll admit when I looked at this plate today even I thought I had made a little too much, but this is where what kind of food that is filling your plate makes a big difference. Because a good 80+% of this meal was fresh, low density vegetables, it was very filling and satisfying, but not to the point where I felt stuffed. 

I finished lunch with a raw cookie dough ball for dessert (refined sugar free for those of you keeping up with me giving up refined sugar for lent).

As far as I’m concerned you can have your big meals…and eat them too!

Happy Friday dears! Hope you have fun plans to enjoy the sunny weekend!