Week 2:
“Identify Your Fullness Cues”
“Create a Balanced Plate”
Awareness Task: Identify Your Fullness Cues
Fullness, or, more precisely, satiety, is stimulated by various factors. Generally, there are two types of hunger cues: Internal and External. Internal fullness cues come from your body directly whereas external fullness cues come from sources outside of your body and in your surrounding environment.
Example of an Internal Fullness Cue: Stomach feeling as though it has slightly more weight to it and the “voice” in your head telling you to eat gets quieter and quieter.
Example of an External Fullness Cue: You see that your plate still has food left on it. You do not necessarily want to eat the rest but you would rather not waste the food so you continue to eat.
Your task this week is to identify at each meal which Fullness cue is present dictating you to eat more or not.
Internal Fullness Cues:
Slight increase in weight in your stomach but not too much to where it makes you want to lay down
Quieter “food noise” (the voice in your head that tells you to eat)
A feeling of satisfaction
Improved Energy and Alertness
External Fullness Cues:
Food left over on your plate
Someone telling you to clear your plate
Having to “hit your macros” for the day
Coach Alan’s Tip!
“Pay attention to your hunger going into each meal and compare it to how you feel after each bite. Once the satisfaction outweighs the hunger, begin to stop eating.”
Physical Task: Create a Balanced Plate
A Balanced plate will incorporate the major food groups for optimal levels of nutrition. The categories include:
Protein
Starch
Fat
Fruits
Veggies
Beverage
Begin to build your meals to resemble the guide that you will download below. It does not have to be perfect but begin to compare your meals to the image in the handout. Strive to match the portions of each category to the portions on your plate at each meal.
Coach Alan’s Tip!
“Aim to consume the protein and veggies first at each meal to ensure that you are filling up on the foods that will bring you the most satiety and nutrition for performance.”