Diet Tip: Eat When Hungry

What's for dinner? I am making a very simple but delicious dish with a twist. It's called pork steak but instead of frying it with onions, I am boiling the meat to extract the oil that naturally comes out from the fat and then will add soy sauce and calamansi which is the Philippine lemon and then sliced onions and a touch of butter as the finishing with some salt at cracked black pepper. I can smell it cooking and that makes me hungry! I have made this dish with beef too and that also tastes delicious. The food is nearly cooked and I am hungry!

Eating When Hungry 

 As I go by the rule to eat when hungry and lately, I have been eating really late like at 4 pm. It worked for me. If I am not hungry, I usually won't eat as there is no time clock controlling my stomach. I don't eat a lot as a general rule but when I do wait until I am totally starving, I end up having a complete meal with dessert which is, in fact, a normal meal.

Where I Learned this Diet Tip

I have a grand-uncle who lived until the age of 94 and only during the last few month of his life was he no longer moving about. This man was strong with a sharp memory. My granduncle Ambrose smoked like a chimney, swore like a whore, and drove his car like a maniac, often screeching to a stop when he parks his car when he visits us.

To see him so stong, agile, talkative, and full of life was fascintating and yes, he was quite a character. What made me wonder is why he was so slim yet full of energy unlike most people his age and even if he was a smoker, it didn't seem to make him unwell.

During one of his visits as we had coffee, I asked him, "What's the secret to your long life?" and he answered, "I eat when I am hungry and stop eating when I am full."

Quick Cooking at Home

In a notable stint of forgetfulness, I was hungry and in a hurry to cook rice as the meal was ready. The food that my daughter took home was chicken curry and of course, it is best with hot steaming rice. So I went and washed the rice and plugged in the rice cooker. Ah, and I forgot to add water as that should be done up to a level of around an inch above the rice. So, after the time passed I decide to check if the rice is cooked and now it is Crunchy rice! Oops! I am still hungry and can't eat yet as now I have added water to the crunchy Rice and am waiting for it to be cooked and I did hope that it would work - but it didn't! I had to cook a whole new batch of fice.

One of my fave things to cook is corned beef with long green chilis to add some kick to the dish and make me burn calories with the spice. These long green mild chilis make a distinct difference to the taste of food and when I feel like a little spice, the heat level of these green chilis is just right and may be made milder by removing the white parts and seeds. A very simple dish to cook, I just open the corned beef, add a whole chopped onion, and a couple of deseeded and julienned fresh chilis. I place in a little water like around half a cup and allowed the mixture to boil. I add water so I won't cook with oil as corned beef has oil already. When the water evaporated, the dish is cooked!

When I am bored with the food at home like corned beef and would rather not take a lot of effort to cook, and also when I want something salty to go with a heaping of rice for that high-carb meal, I eat dried fish. Dried fish is a popular Filipino preserved product made from various kinds of fish that has been dried in the sun. It can be fried in oil or grilled lightly to cook. This dried fish has an overpowering smell, obnoxious to some who do not like to eat it but mouth-watering to the ones who like it. The ideal way to eat dried fish is by using the hands and dipping it in vinegar that may have chopped garlic added to it. The typical side dish of dried fish is chopped tomatoes. I love it but only eat it once in a while because it is very salty and I end up eating a lot of rice!

Since there are only 2 to 3 of us eating in the house right now, it is much easier and it provides the variety of food to buy lunch. Over here in the Philippines, we have small food stores called "carinderia". The food is in various pots and if the cover is not see-thru, you'll lift the cover to see what's inside. Then, upon making your choice, they will scoop out the measure and pack it. Rice is measure out per cup. I frequent this Muslim carinderia near the house as I like the food and have seen the kitchen which is very clean. What I like is that there is no pork and that gives me the variety I desire as I make a lot of pork dishes at home. Buying food from carinderias a practical choice to make.

This diet rule of mine is easy to adhere to when at home as when out, it's so difficult to diet!

Though I am basically a rice eater, I love potatoes and have to eat these at least once a week. I like all kinds of potato food preparations like chips, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes but most of all I love French fries. In search for the best on among the fast food chains here in the Philippines, I tried McDonalds, Jollibee, and Tropical Hut - among them all, I love the KFC French fries. These are thicker that most and have a special kind of crunch to them as I think they are lightly coated with flour and seasonings before being cooked. I can eat a small mini bucket on my own. McDonald's French fries ranks next for me and once, when it was a Sunday so we went there to have Sundae and the chocolate syrup was drizzled over it and the soft serve vanilla ice cream and French fries to that I had satisfy my cravings.

As, I confess, there's sometimes a food craving that I have and it can't be curbed! Chocolates are good for you once in a while especially the dark kind. But then my food craving hits me the feeling goes no longer considers my having to think if it is good for me or not - I want chocolate and I feel like I am a brat. I want to eat KitKat chocolates and Cadbury Fruits n Nuts, I want to eat ice cream that has chocolate flavor with whatever else that goes into it except for cherries. I am dreaming of chocolate and when it is the middle of the night and unless I order a chocolate fudge sundae from McDonald's... I won't get to eat chocolate until I go to the store. I want chocolate and it such an urge that I can extoll the virtues of chocolate all over the world! It has thiamine that makes one happy and it is a trigger food that brings back the taste sensation pleasant memory. I want chocolate and the other day I saw a post about chocolate chip cookies and that made my mouth water. I want chocolate and even if I keep on writing it, I won't be able to give in to my craving tonight - so I think I will drink the Hersey's chocolate syrup? Bad, bad, bad - but it'll be so good to stream that chocolate topping into my mouth!

What I Drink 

At night, I like to drink milk, just the good white creamy kind. I do like chocolate milk and have tried other flavored milk but it is still plain milk that's best for me especially during those nights that I can't sleep as it is so quiet and it's a good time to write. Milk makes me feel full and relaxed.

I tried making my own sun iced tea before by leaving a tea bag in the pitcher and placing it in the sunlight but that takes long and if I boil the tea bag with water and let it steep, the process takes fast and then I let it cool and add citrus fruit like lemons. Yet, I don't really have the time nor the patience anymore to make my own iced tea so what I do is buy the powdered ones that come in sachet packs that are good for making a liter. This eliminates the need of having to measure out the right amount of scoops. It also is sweetened so I don't have to add sugar. The powdered iced tea I choose must have high vitamin C content and it goes through a taste test and I check to see if the powder mixes easily and after left standing for a while has no particles on the bottom. The foam is also important so when I place the iced tea in the pitcher and add the water, there is a lovely foam top. I like iced tea because if is refreshing and note that I water down the 1 liter mix to make 1 and a half liters as it still taste okay anyway.

Coconut water is so refreshing and so good for our health, especially when it is fresh. Over here in the Philippines, sometimes a coconut is cut in half for the white fleshy meat but when one wants to drink the slightly sweet cloudy white coconut water, it is best to chop one side and make a hole to pour out the wonderful natural beverage that needs no ice nor sugar, thought you may add those ingredients plus some of the scrapped meat to make it more awesome!

Eat When You're Hungry

No use in starving ourselves to lose weight. Eat when you're hungry and eat the right kind of food. When you step out, enjoy the delicious meals, then when you are back home, stay on your diet. Don't let the clock control your stomach, let the natural urge and the hunger the time to eat.

We all eat too much once in a while and there are food temptaions all around us. Prevent this at home buy not buying food and beverages that are fatting such as ice cream and chips. Enjoy these when you eat out, as a treat, and you'll see that you'll lose weight.

If you are working and don't stay at home that often, brown bag your lunch or opt to buy healthy and filling complete meals, avoiding the process kind and chosing home-cooked dishes that you can buy from small stores. When working, there is a set time for your meals, and make the most of that eating time by having the correct nutritional intake.

Drink healthy beverages throught the day. These will keep you full and satisfied. If you have food cravings, do indulge yourself once in a while so you won't feel deprived.

Just remember - eat when you are hungry and stop eating when you are full.