Fuel- the battle against time

Happy Monday folks!
Especially happy for me as it is a public holiday! It's amazing how great one extra day in your weekend can make you feel! Interesting ;)

 But I'm not here to brag about the full 24-hours of extra relaxation I get as a result of this public holiday Monday (well, maybe just a bit :) I'm here to talk about food.

Yep, I know this is you right now:

However, it's not just food I want to talk about, it's finding the time to fit in a feed... and sometimes not even being hungry for said feeding.

I know I function best when I have a large filling breakfast with lots of healthy fats, fruit and wholegrains, followed by a substantial lunch filled with veg, a snack in the arvo and a pretty decent sized dinner also filled with veg at night.

I've found what works for my body and stuck with it.

What happens then when life throws the inevitable curve balls it likes to sneak on us from time to time (some of us more than others, am I right?!?) and presents you with scenarios where lunch at your usual time is not an option, or dinner needs to be eaten 2-hours earlier than normal?

We still gotta eat right?

But like this guy above, I find it pretty hard to eat and enjoy my food when I'm not hungry.
Yesterday was a prime example...

My day started off pretty normal with some choc oatmeal truffles and a smoothie which left me happily satisfied and full up to lunch, where I set about making a big ol' grilled veg sandwich:

Pumpkin seed sourdough roll, spread with hommus, topped with spinach, torn up veggie burger, grilled mushrooms, grilled zucchini, sliced tomato, more veggie burger, grilled eggplant and grilled capsicum.

It was a beast!

 Toasted up (making it 10x easier to eat! Tastier too!)

 Aaaaand devoured:

 Now lunch was eaten at around 1:00pm, by my calculations- resulting in me being hungry again by around 4:00pm-4:30pm, making it the perfect time for a snack so I'm still hungry for dinner at around 7:00pm (I do like being organised :)

Then I was asked to work that night at 6:00pm.

Hello curve ball.

Of course it's no real drama- like seriously, there are a bajillion other things that top figuring out when I should eat something in order to maximise hungriness + enjoyment, it's just one of those things I struggle with.

 See I knew I would still need a snack to last me to an early dinner but then the snack should probably be earlier as a result. Gah!

In the end it all got too tough. I was like; Steph, just listen to your body. Listen to your hunger cues. Eat when you feel the need, not when the clock strikes that specific hour you have calculated in your brain.

So at around 3:30pm I had a mug of soy milk as I wasn't overly hungry and then by 5:45pm I was ready for dinner:

 A simple bowl of roasted veg with roasted chestnuts and lentils- simple= perfect!

 I'm never usually hungry when I return home from work (around 9:00pm) so I just slip off to bed instead (because I am usually tired!) but then I figured out the hard way that running in the morning on a stomach that hasn't eaten since 5:45pm the previous night can leave one feeling not so great...

Yet another problem with changing up the times of eating!

I guess it did make breakfast more enjoyable though:

 PB +banana toastie!!

 Yep, I went for my favourite brekky with a side of frozen green grape fro-yo (handful frozen green grapes + 3 big scoops greek yoghurt, whazzed) to replenish my extremely empty stomach after a difficult run!

 Sooo good!

 Whoever came up with the quote; Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels, they're wrong- this tastes better:

 :)

 So I guess what I'm saying in a nut shell is:
Having to change your typical eating times can leave you:

a) Not hungry at all and therefore skipping meals and missing out on essential kilojoules and nutrients
b) Super hungry at strange times
c) Not fueled enough for morning workouts
d) Having to eat for the sake of eating... because you know you have to eat
e) Ultimately not enjoying your food *gasp* It's true though. When you're seriously not hungry, having to eat can be quite unpleasant

But of course we have to remember that this is life, this is going to happen and instead of worrying about it, trying to figure out when to eat and when not to eat and creating so much anxiety for ourselves, we should just let go and realise that everything will be fine. Really.

Your turn:
Do you struggle with having to switch around your typical eating times sometimes?
Do you occasionally have to eat when you're not hungry?
How do you deal with life's curve balls throwing out normalcy?

That's it from me today folks- I'm off to... relax? Yeh, probably not, I'm sure I'll find something for my overly crazy mind to organise! :D Any way, I hope everyone has a great day, eat something delicious for me and also smile! Bye friends! :D