I was asked an amazing question today that completely inspired me, and I was surprised at how many answers/ideas I had.

How can one feel full and full while staying away from fatty foods including processed foods?

This is a struggle for most human beings nowadays, we are surrounded by food from pretty much every country imaginable. We can get fruits that travel for days, things that are not even in season, and for the most part we get carried away buying too much. It can be hard to understand and have the power to buy the foods that will help sustain us.

Here is a list of some recommendations I have. Of course you do not have to do all of these at once, or may be some will not work for everyBODY. Getting to know our body is a bit like a science experiment because of the years of damage that has been done that will take a some time to mend & reconnect everything. Advertisement, society, conditioning, ones personal and emotional history are just a few factors that I am speaking about here.

1) Have a water filled satisfying breakfast! Yes, this may sound simple and you might be thinking, woop woop Jess. But having a large juice, a smoothie, some fruit like watermelon that has a high water content is a great way to show your body some T.L.C and yes get FULL. I have loads of juice and smoothie recipes on my site, please feel free to search and see what looks best!

2) Try adding chia seeds to your water. I roughly put about 1-2 tablespoons in a mason jar filled with water. If you have “issues” with drinking water, try adding it to your smoothies, lemonade, juice, or iced tea. Chia seeds were used by the Aztecs to give their messengers energy to go on long messenger runs. This cute little seed is high in fiber and omega-3, out of all of the Omegas this one seems to be the most difficult for us to consume enough of. It also has Omegas 3 & 9, amino acids, and trace minerals such as calcium, phosphorous, zinc, manganese, and potassium. Once it is in water for a fair amount of time a jelly like consistency will film around it because the seed is absorbing some of the water. No worries! 😀

Chia Seeds make wonderful puddings, yogurt, dressings, cereals and is great to mix in homemade crackers, crusts, and breads. I am not fan of forcing brands on people, depending where you live there are only certain ones available. I’d rather everyone actually consume Chia then say, “Oh well I don’t have that brand at my grocery store so I can’t use it.” All I can recommend is buying Non-GMO and organic Chia Seeds. It may be cheaper to buy it in bulk, or if you feel a little uncomfortable with having a whole bag around check the bulk section of your local health food store.

3) Have a MASSIVE salad for lunch and be careful with how much dressing you put on and what ingredients are in it. Typically salad dressings have more calories than your actual salad. Make a salad that will take you 30 minutes to eat. Salads are low in calories, high in water content so they take up a lot of space in your stomach eventually.

Eat MIND FULLY. With eat bite consider that you are eating, actually look at what you are eating and chew until your salad is completely mushy and would look like a machine broke it down.

Think about how your food tastes. Isn’t it amazing that healthy filling food actually still tastes GOOD once it has been broken down. Just imagine how terrible a frozen pizza from the grocery store would taste if you treated it this way. It would probably taste like cardboard, chemicals or may be leaves you feeling empty.

What energy or thoughts are you having while you eat? I like to make it a meditative time, little or zero conversation, I may take a break here and there to be thankful for having food, having utensils to eat with and how wonderful it feels to eat.

4) Usually when we feel hungry we actually need water. Roughly 70% of our body is made out of water. Water helps naturally cleanse us, keep our organs happy, our blood pumping well and it makes a huge difference with my brain function personally. Here are several articles I have written with some ideas on how to consume more water.

5) Consider if you are eating to suppress an emotion or if you actually need to eat. What mood are you in? At times I feel hungry when I am under stress, or crave something sweet when I feel down. There are connections we have made with food over the years. Each person has their own history with food, but there are connections we make as a society too. We want to be rewarded with sweets, we want to drown our emotions or brush a thought underneath the carpet. What are your intentions? You can be doing harm mentally and physically, with food these two weave together so tightly.

Just because someone else is eating does not mean you need to eat too! Or you heard someone mention your favorite food so now you “have to” go get it. Do not become a sheep and follow the herd into health problems. We all have the strength to be better than that.

6) Eating out of boredom or to stay awake? This is something I am completely guilty of especially at night most likely if I am alone. Try to stay focused on your goal, what emotions you are feeling and if a negative relationship with food is being created.

I’ve learned with time that it is best for me personally to not eat anything past 7pm. This way I sleep better meaning I go to sleep fairly quickly, do not have terrible dreams, stay asleep and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to rawk n’ roll. While others need to eat something before they go to bed so they can have these same feelings.

If you are eating to stay awake there may be something you are lacking in your diet, or heck you might just need to eat! Consider everything you have eaten for the day. You may have consumed too many high density foods that will make you sluggish.

7) If you are seriously concerned speak to a medical professional you trust. Share a detail list of your feelings, ailments and so forth. This way you can possibly learn if there is anything you should be honest to goodness worried about and choose from there what you would like to do. In my opinion I would never jump ship and take pills or do a treatment without researching it.

8) Go to a psychologist, health coach, start going to the gym, run, swim, bike, do yoga, meet new people, DO something different instead of just talking about it. This hunger you may feel could be coming from an aspect of your life that is lacking attention. Something is not working out; write about how you feel, keep track of your mood through out the day, what you have eaten, who you have spoken to, and your stress levels.

You have more answers, tools, and power then you give yourself credit for.

Thank you all so much for stopping by my website! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with good company, food, laughs and relaxation. Have a great day, much love ❤ and raw power 😉

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