How less sleep changes your eating habits

Most people focus on improving diet and exercise when shifting to a healthier lifestyle. There’s no doubt those are both key components. What’s even more critical, though, is a good night’s sleep.

How you sleep impacts judgment, memory, decision making, emotional response, reaction time and more. But sleep isn't just for your brain. It’s also the time your body repairs tissue, balances and releases hormones, builds up energy for the following day, and rests.

So it’s unfortunate that sleep is often the first thing we cut when things get busy. Not only do we feel worse the next day, but anything replacing sleep (work, exercise, etc) doesn’t get done very effectively. And neither does anything else we do over the next 24 hours.  

As if that wasn’t enough, lack of sleep also impacts how you eat.

Hungry, hungry hormones

Ghrelin is your hunger hormone, released by your stomach to tell your brain you’re hungry.

On an ordinary day, ghrelin levels look something like this:

This still happens when you haven’t had enough sleep, but on a grander scale. Multiple studies have shown ghrelin levels increase so you feel hungrier than usual when you wake up (likely to make up for the energy you didn’t get from your shortened sleep). As a result, you want larger portion sizes for breakfast and more snacks later in the day.

One day of eating extra isn’t that big of a deal. But when it happens chronically, that adds up to thousands more calories than you actually need over the course of a year. And that can have a big impact on your weight.

Leptin gets low

Ghrelin isn’t the only hunger-related hormone impacted. There’s also leptin.

Leptin is a hormone released by your fat cells to let your body know you have enough stored energy. In short, it curbs your appetite when you’ve had enough to eat.

If everything’s functioning normally, leptin should go up as ghrelin goes down to signal you’re full.

But your sympathetic nervous system (aka fight-or-flight mode) can suppress leptin levels when it’s constantly in control and prevent your parasympathetic nervous system (aka rest-and-digest mode) from activating.

The two nervous systems work together like a teeter-totter, one becomes more active as the other becomes less active. And your sympathetic nervous system always gets priority when you’re stressed, whether that comes from a saber-tooth tiger or lack of sleep.

Between the increased ghrelin and the decreased leptin, you have the perfect recipe for increased hunger throughout the day.

Speaking of stress...

A more active sympathetic nervous system also increases the amount of cortisol in your system at night.

Cortisol is your stress hormone and is supposed to be elevated in the morning to wake you up and slowly decrease throughout the day until its lowest level at night.

It’s also a regulator of insulin (that hormone that lowers your blood sugar).

When your blood sugar drops too low, cortisol is released to make insulin less effective. That way your blood sugar has a chance to get back into the normal range.

This backfires though when cortisol is constantly high. Over time, your body has to release more insulin than usual to fight cortisol and keep your blood sugar from building up too much in your blood cells. This can lead to diabetes, that point where your liver’s unable to produce the amount of insulin needed to keep your blood sugar in check.

Bring on the munchies

All of this becomes a double whammy when sleep loss creates a stronger desire to eat unhealthy foods throughout the day.

One reason this seems to happen is that sleep loss boosts the endocannabinoid levels in your blood, which increases the desire to eat and the satisfaction you get from eating (particularly high-carb, high-fat foods in an effort to curb that hunger). This is the same process that happens when you smoke a joint and get the munchies.

With enough sleep, it’s easier to resist less healthy foods (or at least be satisfied with a smaller amount). But with boosted endocannabinoid levels and a higher ghrelin-to-leptin ratio, it’s much harder, if not nearly impossible, to stop.

How to get a better night's slee

If you’ve been having a hard time getting a restful night’s sleep, don’t worry. There are a lot of things you can do to get back on track.

1. Turn off your electronics at least half an hour before bed

This allows for a few things.

First, your mind can quiet down and your body can relax, both of which allow your cortisol levels to drop so you can sleep more easily.  

The blue light from your screens also disrupts the production of melatonin which is crucial to being able to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Blue light mimics light produced by the sun and tricks your body into thinking it’s still daylight. This comes from screens such as your computer, your cell phone, and yes, your tv. You might think tv helps you fall asleep, but it also causes lower quality sleep, which means you’ll be exhausted even with eight hours.

Turning off your screens an hour before bed is the ideal goal, but for some people that’s a lot of screen-free time. So start with 30 minutes and increase from there.

2. Wake up without an alarm clock

Our wake time is dictated for us by work, school, kids, and more. But it’s still possible to wake up without an alarm clock at the right time.

First start with what time you need to wake up and set your bedtime 7.5 hours before that time.

Why 7.5? Most adults have between 4-6 90 minute sleep cycles during the night, so the average of that tends to be a good starting point.

Not everyone has 90 minute cycles and the number of cycles tends to vary depending on how much sleep you need. So the first few nights when you use this method, take note of whether you wake up well before or after your alarm clock. Then add or subtract 30 minutes to the time you go to bed according to whether you need less sleep or more sleep.

You might still want to set an alarm clock as a safety precaution, but eventually you’ll find that you’ll be able wake up just before your alarm. Not only will you sleep the right amount of time for your body, but you’ll also ensure you wake up during the lightest part of your sleep schedule which will boost your energy and alertness better than any cup of coffee.  

3. Watch what you’re eating at dinner time

Sometimes the food you eat at dinner can have an impact on your sleep. Caffeine is the obvious one, but alcohol, spicy food, and even things like MSG have been known to disrupt sleep if you eat or drink them too late in the day. And for some people (like myself), having their carbs at dinner rather than at lunch helps them fall asleep more easily and makes them feel more energized in the afternoons.

If you’re having trouble sleeping or find that you’re consistently getting restless sleep, keep a food/sleep journal to see if you can find a pattern of what might be causing your sleep troubles. If you do, it doesn’t mean you have give up that food altogether. Just have it earlier in the day and save the food that’s easier to process for dinner time.

If you’d like more sleep tips, the National Sleep Foundation is a good starting place for information on sleep hygiene and how to set up an optimal sleep environment.

Also remember that you don’t need to stress if you get a bad night’s sleep every now and then. It happens to everyone. Hormone levels might be temporarily thrown off, but they’ll bounce back within a couple of days once you’re back on track.

Sleep, a healthy diet and exercise are arguably some of the most important things you can be doing for your health. They all impact each other and help you feel your best when combined on a regular basis.

As we start nearing the holiday season, remember that an all-around healthy foundation is the key to feeling great at a time that can be stressful for many (and to not feeling guilty on the days you want to indulge). If you’d like some help eating consistently clean, consider adding some Methodology meals to your weekly routine.

With nutritious, balanced meals that are designed to help you feel lighter and more energetic throughout the day, you’ll have the food part of health covered in as little as 5 minutes.

If you’d like to give our meals a try, sign up for our waitlist, or learn more about what we do. 

How to end emotional eating

When you eat, it’s because you’re hungry. Right? Not always. That nagging feeling that you need to fill up on something doesn’t always mean you need food. 

Hunger is a sensation that starts gradually and becomes increasingly stronger over the course of an hour or so. Hunger also means that you could eat anything to satisfy your hunger. If you’re feeling hungry and would eat anything to satisfy that (including your least favorite vegetable), that’s real hunger. 

Faux feelings of hunger come from things like cravings, and in some cases your emotions. 

The comforting effect of food

Being aware of why you’re going for that mid-day snack won’t stop you from eating it anyway. Your emotions are powerful and difficult to fight once they start bubbling up on you. 

That’s for good reason. When emotions and stress are suppressed on a regular basis, they have a tendency of showing up in another way in your life to let you know, “Hey! You haven’t dealt with me yet!”

Wanting to eat when you aren’t hungry is one of the most common ways those emotions can show up. Your body is signaling that something is off and you need comfort, and your brain decides you’ll feel better if you go get a snack.

Food IS comforting, especially sugary, fatty foods that tend to be the snack of choice in moments like these. These foods release large amounts of dopamine from the reward center of your brain and make you feel good in the moment. 

But it only provides temporary comfort, which is why it’s so hard to stop eating from that tub of ice cream after a rough day. If you stop, so does the good feeling. So your brain keeps you craving food you don’t need.

Get to the root cause

That’s why it’s so important to identify the root cause of your emotional eating. Once you know what’s causing your emotional eating, you can find a real solution. 

It’s best to do this soul searching in a quiet, safe space where you aren’t afraid you’ll be judged if something uncomfortable comes up. 

I personally love journaling about everything that comes to mind until I dig deep enough to find out what’s really going on. Some people find that meditation or meditative movement (like running, yoga or walking) can be helpful. You just need something that allows you to be by yourself for a little while so you can focus on you and find the why behind the emotion you’re feeling.

Address the root cause

This step can take a while, and that’s okay. If you’ve been ignoring an emotion for a long time, whether it be stress, sadness, frustration, or boredom, it can take just as long to really feel like you’ve dealt with the issue. Give yourself permission to take this at your own pace. 

There are many ways to go about this. Here are a few to give you some ideas on how to start:

1. Change or remove sources of discomfort or stress

Being unhappy with your job is a common example. If that’s coming up for you, what can you do to feel more aligned with your job? 

Can you take on more responsibilities so you feel challenged again? Can you take on fewer responsibilities so you’re not spending all your waking hours on work? Do you need to find a job in a different field or at a different company? 

You don’t have to take giant leaps to start dealing with your emotions (and in fact, I’d encourage you to take small steps unless a giant leap is absolutely necessary). 

Start by brainstorming ways you can make change in your life, talk with people who might be able to help, and start taking action. Even one small step a day can bring a massive amount of change within a few months. 

2. Allow emotions to be expressed

Holding in emotions that are trying to get out is exhausting. It can be terrifying and uncomfortable to face pain, sadness, or anger, but they’re part of the ebb and flow of life. They’ll eventually pass when you’re ready and might even teach you something about yourself. 

For cases like these, the methods from step 2 tend to be really helpful. Journaling, meditating, and movement allow you to process, feel, and express how you’re feeling in a safe space. Let whatever happens happen without judging yourself. 

Sometimes you might need help depending on where you’re at, and that’s all right too. Just make sure that whoever you talk to is someone you trust and someone you connect with, whether that be a spouse, friend, coach, or therapist. 

3. Take better care of yourself

This is true no matter what emotions you’re working through, but it’s especially true when you’re dealing with extreme stress or unhappiness. Remember, your brain is seeking out food because it’s looking for comfort. If you’re focused on everyone and everything around you and forgetting to take care of yourself, it’s okay to stop and reprioritize.   

This could mean putting up boundaries with work, or it could mean treating yourself to a massage. Regular exercise, being in nature, eating nourishing foods, a spa day, an hour at night to read some fiction. Whatever sounds like heaven to you that you could add to your day or week is probably exactly what you need to start feeling great again. 

Make a list of the the things that make you feel totally cherished and peaceful. And try to do at least one of these things every day. Or go all out and do three things a day! We all deserve tons of love and there’s no shame in giving it to ourselves.

This can feel selfish to some people, but you’ll find that when you start showing up for yourself, you’ll show up better for the people and projects that rely on you. 

It’s not said enough that not feeling happy all the time is normal. In fact, being happy all the time is impossible. The people who face their emotions and work with them, rather than against them, are the ones who come out stronger and oftentimes happier on the other side. In other words, it’s better to face reality - however hard it may feel - than live in a fantasy.

And the more you get in the habit of accepting and working with your emotions rather than fighting them, the less you’ll want to emotionally eat. 

Just remember to take one small step at a time and be compassionate with yourself. 

If there’s a lot going on in your life and you want make sure you’re eating well without having to cook, we’re here for you. Join our waitlist for our meals or find out more about what we do. 

Finding the right portion size for you

According to a study published in the International Journal of Obesity in 2014, 92% of people eat everything that’s on their plate. Pretty alarming, considering the size of American restaurant meals (which my Parisienne friends refer to as “vulgar”), snacks, and drinks can be double the portion size you actually need. 

While more food makes you feel like you’re getting more value out of what you’re buying, if you’re eating more food than your body needs you’re getting the worse end of the deal. And the larger portions also train your brain to believe you can’t be satisfied without more food. 

So how do you know what portion size you should be eating?

The Issue with "one-size-fits-all" food

You might look to some of the food standards we have today, like serving sizes. But these are created from a national average of what people tend to eat in one sitting. Their purpose is more to tell you how many calories you’ll probably be consuming rather than how much you’re supposed to eat. And with people thinking they need more to be satisfied, that’s probably not the standard you want to follow.

The other caveat is that these standards don’t take into consideration that your needs are unique. Height, age, hormone fluctuations, weight, activity level, health conditions, what you ate for breakfast, and more affect how much you should eat at your next meal. What’s considered “typical” doesn’t take any of that into consideration. 

Balance matters

In addition to the overall size of the meal, it’s also important to balance the types of food on your plate. A meal that’s 90% carbs, for instance, will not only cause you to eat more in the short term, but will also have you hungry again in 1-2 hours because your body will process it so quickly. 

You want to balance out carbs with plenty of protein, fiber, and healthy fat, all of which will help fill you up more quickly and keep you satiated for up to 4-6 hours after a meal. 

Become your own "expert"

We, humans, are the only species that asks others how much food to eat, and it’s completely unnecessary! Our bodies already know the answer. 

The best way to find the right portion sizes for you is to listen to your body because this wisdom will not only steer you toward better health, it’s also flexible and changes as your needs change. 

It’s not as overwhelming as it sounds. In fact, the system to figure this out is pretty simple and doesn’t even require a food scale. 

1. Start with these approximate serving sizes
First, you need a place to start so you can get moving. Don’t worry about being too exact because you’ll get more accurate in the next step. I’ve included some measurements and approximate sizes so you get a sense of how much you’re eating.
 

Protein is crucial for practically every cellular process in your body, helps build muscle, hair, cartilage, and nails, and is a powerful energy source for your body, among many other functions. 

• Approximate size: one palm
• Measurement: 3 - 6 oz depending on your size

Vegetables are your biggest sources of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.

• Approximate size: 1 heaping handful
• Measurement: ½ - 1 cup

Note: If you’re going to up the amount you’re eating in any category, this is the best place to start. 

Healthy fats are important for absorbing certain nutrients into your body (like vitamin A, D, E and K) and balancing your hormones. They’re also crucial if you decide to go low-carb to ensure you’re getting enough calories throughout the day. 

• Approximate size: 1 - 2 thumbs of oil or pastured ghee, a handful of olives or a fistful of nuts
• Measurement: 1 - 2 tablespoons of oil or pastured ghee, ½ - 1 cup of olives, ¼ - ½ cup of nuts

Grains are optional, but they become more necessary the more active you get because they’re quick sources of energy. If you eat them, it’s important to keep the amount minimal so you don’t spike your blood sugar. 

• Approximate size: 1 handful
• Measurement: ½ - 1 cup

Note: If you’re eating grains and you’re getting full too quickly, you can cut back on healthy fats. But don’t cut them out completely because they’re still necessary!

Fruit is also optional and can be a great nutritious dessert option, supplying some additional vitamins, minerals, and fiber, especially if you emphasize raspberries and blackberries (which I eat every day!). 

• Approximate size: 1 handful or piece
• Measurement: ½ - 1 cup

If you’re active or you think you’ll need more food in one sitting, feel free to increase each of these starting points. The next step will make sure you end up in the right place.

2. Listen to cues from your body
The guidelines above don’t take into account anything other than height and build, which means they’ll almost definitely need tweaking. 

So you should ask yourself this question after each bite: Am I satisfied yet?

It can take 10 to 45 minutes for your body to actually register you’re full. Slowing down with this question will help give your body enough time to send signals that you’re satisfied. And it’ll make you more aware of what being done actually feels like for the times you can’t control what’s on your plate.

Once you’re satisfied, take note of how much food you have left over, wrap it up for another meal, and adjust accordingly next time. Or if you’ve cleared your plate and you’re still not satisfied, make yourself some more food and increase your portion sizes next time. 

If you’re used to eating meals quickly, you’ll want to stop at the point where you’re about 80% full and ask yourself this question again in 10-15 minutes to give your body some time to catch up and make sure you’re actually full.  

The last cue to pay attention to is how long you go before you get hungry again. Your goal is to stay satiated at least 4 hours between meals, so if you’re getting hungry after 1-2 hours then you’ll want to check the balance of your meals to make sure you’re getting enough protein, fiber, and fat. 

3. Adjust as needed
Now that you know what worked last time, adjust accordingly with less or more food if needed. You’ll probably need to do this exercise a few times before you get the right balance.  

You might also find you’ll eat different amounts with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and that life circumstances will also dictate portion size. That’s normal. Just go back to step 2 and repeat whenever you find you’re starting to get a little too full or hungry after a meal. 

And remember that this mindfulness and continuous reflection is something that should be ongoing. Because your body and its needs are constantly changing.

Once you have a good handle on how much you actually need to eat, you can apply those rules anywhere you go. But if you don’t have time to create balanced meals on a regular basis or you’d just like some help getting started, we’ve got your back. 

At Methodology, we offer low- or moderate-carb meals in Small, Medium, and Large sizes (plus Family for anyone trying to feed two people for less money) so you can adjust according to what your body’s telling you. We make it easy to toggle between settings at any time as well in case your needs change. 

If you’d like to try our meals, sign up for our waitlist. Or you can learn more about what we do. 

How to stop dieting for good

Want to know the reason why diets never work long-term? 

They’re all about what you can’t have. 

No sugar. No carbs. No fat. No alcohol. 

Have you ever wanted to stick to a diet long-term? Because the first thing I think about as soon as I start a diet is, when can I have some pizza?

Willpower works against us

Normally, it takes a decent amount of willpower to make good food choices during the day. Diets actually make this easier for the time you’re following them because you’ve made a pre-commitment to a certain set of rules. This doesn’t guarantee you won’t give in and cheat, but it helps your brain know there’s an end with a reward to look forward to. 

But it also means that your brain views this as a challenge, and a painful one at that. You have to fight cravings and memories of delicious food to be successful. Humans have an evolutionary bias toward doing things that are easy or bring pleasure. Since the diet itself does neither, your brain wants it to end as quickly as possible so you exert as little energy as possible.

That’s why it’s so easy to give into your favorite food the minute you reach your goal. Plus, your celebration becomes linked in your brain as a positive experience. Next time you’re deciding what to eat, you remember how happy the post-diet celebration made you and you’re much more likely to choose something that isn’t diet approved.

Look and feel your best without the diet

How do you look and feel your best without depriving yourself? Here are 3 steps to get you started. 

1. Experiment with healthy but enjoyable food combinations
Processed, refined and sugar-laced foods block leptin receptors in your brain. Leptin is the hormone that gets released when you’ve had enough to eat, telling your brain you’re full. That’s why it’s so hard to stop eating certain foods, even when you know you’ve had enough. 

So whole foods like protein, vegetables, fruits and healthy fats help you eat the right amount by allowing your brain to process leptin, in addition to nourishing you more. But you also want to enjoy the food you eat so you don’t feel deprived. The best way to start eating more healthy food is to start enjoying more healthy food. 

Try looking up healthy alternatives for ingredients in your favorite recipes (like sweet potato noodles in place of spaghetti or pastured ghee in place of butter). If you start with something you know you enjoy and tweak the ingredients, you'll be more likely to enjoy the end result and you'll start to get the hang of cooking with these new ingredients. That will help give you a strong foundation to branch out and explore new recipes.

If the healthy food you’re eating tastes as good as your unhealthy food, there’s nothing for you to miss. Sure, you have to still make a decision. But the healthy and unhealthy options are more equally weighted in your mind, which means you don’t feel like you’re sacrificing anything when you choose the healthy option.

2. Stop calorie counting
Nothing causes a sense of deprivation like calorie counting. You’re limiting both what you can eat (by avoiding higher calorie foods and ingredients) and whether you can have an extra treat or a larger portion size, even if you’re hungry. 

While counting calories keeps you in a calorie deficit - assuming you’re perfect - it doesn’t ensure you’re getting all the nutrients you need for your body to operate at its peak. With the added stress around social events with food, eating out and other typically enjoyable experiences, there are better ways to keep your eating in check. 

What’s more important is what you eat. As I mentioned, you end up eating the right amount with foods that don’t block leptin receptors in your brain. And just in case you do overdo it at a meal, your body’s smart enough to recalibrate your next few meals until you’re back on track. 

Listening to your body also has the advantage of feeling more connected to what you’re eating. It makes meals enjoyable, rather than something necessary for survival. You’re less afraid of food. Plus, you’re more in tune with what your body needs to feel its best. 

3. Treat yourself every once in awhile
When you’re eating well, it’s okay to indulge every once in awhile. The 80/20 rule is a good rule of thumb. If you’re mostly eating those whole, nutritious foods and you decide you want a treat then go for it. Even eating whatever you want for 1-2 meals a week will be fine in the long run. 

In fact, a few weekly treats can help you eat better overall. Strict rules over what you can’t eat can cause you to obsess over those items. Not only does this eat away at your willpower more rapidly because you’re constantly thinking about it, but you’re also more likely to overeat or binge when you finally give in. Knowing you can eat something if you really want it prevents you from obsessing and helps you eat just enough to feel satisfied. 

The key here is to choose the foods you’re really going to love. If you think ice cream is only okay, don’t eat ice cream just because work is having an ice cream social. But if you find your favorite cookies at a holiday party and you want to celebrate because it’s the holidays, give yourself permission to have a few guilt-free. You’ll enjoy the party without regrets and get back to eating well the next day.

When you start to enjoy food that’s good for you, that’s when you’ll see the biggest shift in how you look and feel. We’d love to help make that shift as easy and painless as possible. 

We deliver precooked meals made with whole ingredients with little to no processing straight to your door. Our specialty is clean comfort food; meals based off food you love and just as delicious to make it a no brainer to choose the healthy option. Even clients who only eat our meals a few times a week find themselves making better choices outside of Methodology once they see what healthy food can taste like. 

If you'd like to try our meals, sign up for our waitlist today, or learn more about what we do.

3 ways to free up your time

Time is the most valuable thing any of us possess, and it’s the only thing you can’t increase beyond the 24 hours you’re given in a day. Which is why most people turn to multitasking. It seems like the perfect answer. Get two or three things done at the same time so you have extra time left over for something else. 

Unfortunately, multitasking doesn’t work. Every time you attempt to complete multiple tasks at once, your brain wastes precious time trying to decide which task to do right in this moment. 

Imagine going for a run and stopping at every corner with the question, right, left or straight? Your run would take twice as long than if you’d planned your entire route ahead of time and followed that. 

That’s what happens when you try to concentrate on more than one thing at a time. Your brain constantly has to figure out which task it’s focusing on and you end up taking longer to complete all your tasks than if you had done one task at a time.

So if you’re never going to able to save time by doing multiple things at once, how do you find more time for the things you want to focus on? 

Automation. 

How automation helps

The average adult makes 35,000 decisions on a daily basis. Over 250 of those alone are devoted to food. Sure, most of them take microseconds to resolve, but a few microseconds times 35,000 adds up to a lot of time and energy spent before you even get to the task at hand.

Automation helps you make fewer decisions on things that matter less or are done on a regular basis so you free up more time for the tasks you want to focus on.

Automation isn’t the same as multitasking because you’re not doing multiple tasks at the same time and you’re not constantly making decisions about what to do next. Instead, you’re making all your decisions once and ahead of time, then working through them one task at a time (or in some cases, allowing them to happen on their own). You get everything done, save time and do all your tasks better. #winning

The magic formula

There are a lot of ways to automate different parts of your life, but the formula for how to do it is always the same. That is to: 

1. Recognize something in your life that happens repetitively
2. Make a decision (or a series of decisions) for how you want that task handled
3. Set up a system to enact those decisions
4. Tweak as necessary

That’s pretty much it. The hardest part is #3, knowing what system to use, so here are 3 examples to spark some ideas. 

3 ways to automate your life

1. Prep for your day the night before

Deciding what your day is going to look like the night before frees up time for you to complete your tasks the next day. You’ll wake up to a hassle-free morning and have a prioritized roadmap of what to do next every time you finish a task to help you have a productive day every day.

Here are a few ways to get a head start on tomorrow: 

• Write down all your to dos in the order of priority
• Decide which tasks can be pushed off until later in the week and which are crucial to get done tomorrow
• Schedule tasks into your calendar and commit to getting them done in a certain amount of time
• Set up your environment with what you need to have a successful start to the morning (like laying out your clothes, choosing a workout playlist or gathering ingredients for a healthy breakfast)

2. Create routines and habits

The beauty of a routine is you decide once what it’s going to be and you don’t have to think about it again, except maybe to tweak it every once in awhile. 

A routine is also the foundation for creating a habit, those tasks that are hardwired into your brain thanks to the basal ganglia and the brain stem. The closer a routine comes to becoming a habit, the easier it becomes and the less brain power you need to use to complete it, freeing up even more time and energy for other tasks. And once you develop a habit, you can use it as an anchor to create additional healthy habits in your life. 

Here are a few ideas to save time and add a few healthy habits to your day: 

• Meditate for five minutes while your morning coffee is brewing
• Develop an easy-to-remember exercise routine that you perform every time you turn on the TV
• Keep a journal and pen next to your bed and spend 5-10 minutes writing out your thoughts before turning off the light
• Add sunscreen as an extra step to your morning beauty routine

3. Use technology

Technology is one of the most powerful systems you can use to automate your life. More automation options become available all the time as technology becomes able to handle more complex tasks. With people doing more than ever before, companies are automating as much as possible to create ways to free up more of your time. 

Here are a few examples of what can be automated to help take care of common tasks: 

• Coffee makers and kettles that start brewing your coffee or boiling water right around the time you wake up
• Thermostats that adapt on their own as they learn your preferences each time you change the temperature and turn off your A/C or heater whenever you leave the house
• Apps that allow clients and coworkers to schedule meetings at times that work for both of you without the back and forth email coordination
• Prescription refills through your pharmacy or health insurance so you never run out
• Product subscriptions that replenish common items at set intervals of time so you never run out
• Monthly bill pay for almost anything you pay for on a recurring basis (including your credit card bill)
• Budget trackers for all your credit card purchases so you know how much you’re spending
• Smart scales that upload your weight online for easy tracking and monitoring

There are even water bottles being built that record how much water you drink in a day.

Automation is the idea Methodology is built off of. Remember those 200+ decisions you make every day on food? We want to cut those down significantly so you don’t have to think about things like:

• What do you eat?
• Do you make it or go out to eat it?
• Where do you get the ingredients?
• What restaurant do you go to? 

Which frees you to spend time on things like spending quality time with people you care about.

The majority of clients who come to Methodology cite time as their biggest barrier to healthy eating, and we understand why. There are a LOT of decisions and preparation that go into a healthy meal, and it’s so much easier to settle for something else. 

That’s why we:

• Come up with the menus
• Automatically assign you meals
• Cook everything
• Deliver meals to your front doorstep.

We even send an email every week to remind you to check your menu just in case you want to make a change. 

Our goal is to make it so all you have to do is choose your plan once, tweak it as necessary and then reheat the meals in your constantly stocked fridge. 

If that sounds like the perfect way for you to save time and eat better, then click here to join our waitlist. Or learn more about what we do. 

Understanding your cravings

There’s nothing simple about cravings. They come in many forms, including chocolate, pizza, salty and crunchy. The biggest commonality between them is they usually come without warning and won’t quit until they’re satisfied.

How to know when you're having a craving

It seems like it should be obvious, but a lot of times we don't actually realize we're having a craving. That's because we often confuse cravings with hunger. We have a tendency to assume that if we want food, we're hungry. 

It’s understandable. Most of us have never been taught to question why we’re headed to the kitchen. And thanks to the hunter-gatherer stage of human history, your body believes that your next bite of food won’t be coming for a long time so it would never encourage you to stop and think before chowing down. 

So how do you tell the difference between cravings and hunger?

Hunger is a cue from your body that you’re starting to run low on fuel and it might be time to replenish. Typically, hunger comes about 4-6 hours after eating and gives you an hour or two of leeway before you’re ready to eat everything in sight.

Another clue that you’re experiencing hunger is your desire to eat anything. Sure, you have your preferences. But if you had to eat something you only considered mediocre, you’d do it.

Cravings are different. When you’re craving something it’s going to be for one particular food or flavor profile. And you want it now. 

Unlike hunger, there isn’t just one reason a craving might hit you. The best way to know what to do is to understand the cause and how it relates to your body.

Your body needs something

When your body’s lacking something, it’s going to ask for it the best way it knows how. Sometimes that comes in the form of a craving.

1. Searching for the perfect nutrient
Nutrients have specific flavors that help our bodies know what foods to look for when that nutrient is lacking. When you start to get a strong craving for a very particular food, that’s a good sign that your body is looking for a particular nutrient. 

Sometimes that food isn’t good for you though, and that’s when confusion sets in. A processed food might be full of junk, but it might still contain that flavor your body’s looking for. Whether that flavor is real or artificial, or whether the food you’re eating contains less desirable ingredients doesn’t matter much to your body. It knows what it’s looking for and won’t stop until it gets it. 

Chocolate is the classic example. You lack magnesium. That flavor can be found in chocolate. You crave your favorite chocolate bar because you’ve come to associate it as the best way to find that flavor. Nutrient found.

Things go a little haywire though when it comes to artificial flavorings. If you’re lacking phenylethanol, your body’s going to start sending out a signal for tomatoes to find that phenylethanol flavor. But if your strongest association of that flavor is from your tomato-flavored crackers, that’s what you’re going to start craving. Even though there’s no phenylethanol there.

If you’re craving something specific, try thinking about what it is about that food that your body might be looking for (magnesium, tomato, etc) and see if eating a healthier solution will calm your cravings.

2. Ignored physical needs
Your cells and organs are constantly performing tasks to keep you alive, and to do this they need proper support from the food you eat. Nutrients play a huge part in keeping everything running, but your body needs other things from food besides just nutrients.

Calories, for instance. You need to eat a certain number of calories every day to function. They serve as energy to keep you moving. If you don’t have enough, after awhile your exhaustion will only be matched by your craving for calorie dense foods like carbohydrates. 

Blood sugar management is also important. If your blood sugar is running low because you skipped too many meals or you’re in the middle of a sugar crash, your body’s going to turn up the cravings for sugar until your blood sugar is back a desirable range.

In these cases, it’s okay give into your cravings in the short term to restabilize yourself. They’re happening because you’re running low on something essential, so it’s best to get back into the green zone sooner rather than later. But once you’re feeling better, evaluate your diet to make sure you’re supporting all your physical needs.

3. Emotional and psychological needs
Food is comforting. Especially sugary, fatty foods. 

When you’re feeling stressed, sad, bored, hormonal, etc, your body wants to bring you back into a state of feeling good and one of the best ways it knows how to do that is through food. 

Fatty, salty and sweet foods are the trifecta of perfection according to our genetic coding. These are the foods that gave our ancestors energy and enough of a fat layer to survive during times with little food. 

To encourage our ancestors to eat as much of this food as possible, the reward center of our brain started releasing dopamine whenever they found this food to store up as much energy as possible for the future. Just in case. 

We still get that same good feeling today when we eat these flavors. So by sending a craving, our bodies are trying to do us a favor. 

If something’s going on that makes you crave  fatty, salty or sweet foods, now’s the perfect time to find something else that brings you pleasure. Exercise, a hobby, a vacation, talking with a friend. Do something that keeps you stimulated and you’ll probably find the craving will go away without eating a single bite. 

You've got a food addiction

Food addiction is a craving that keeps you coming back to the same food without any explanation, and it keeps getting stronger even after you’ve given in. It’s usually for something fatty, sweet or salty (oftentimes all three at once) because those are the foods that release dopamine without fail. 

Processed food is designed to take advantage of this. Think about the foods you can’t stop eating. Pizza, ice cream, potato chips. They all contain sugar (or processed grains), fat and salt to create the perfect snack you’ll never want to stop eating.

Just like any addiction, the best way to get over it is to stop exposing yourself. Here are 3 ways to push forward, even if you’re in the midst of withdrawal symptoms:

1. Eat whole foods (and eliminate processed ones)
When you eat whole foods, you’re providing your body with support as you detox old cravings and preventing yourself from introducing new cravings. 

Have you ever gorged yourself on broccoli? I’m guessing no. That’s because foods that contain fiber and are packed with nutrients are difficult to overeat. Your body recognizes that you’ve had enough at some point and stops you.

Read ingredient labels to make sure you’re only eating foods that come from nature and are as unprocessed and whole as possible. Better yet, eat foods that don’t have labels at all.

2. Don’t deprive yourself
This seems like a contradiction to the last one, but it doesn’t have to be. When you’re in the middle of a craving, it can help to satisfy that craving quickly rather than try to push it to the side. Every time you say no to a craving, you use up some willpower and it becomes harder to say no the next time. Which can lead you to cheat and start back at square one.

But you can satisfy your cravings with whole foods, where you’ll have more control over how much you’re eating and you’ll be receiving all the benefits of those foods.

Try something like a baked sweet potato with a tablespoon of coconut oil, some cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Or carrots, bell peppers and cucumber with guacamole. Or an apple with fresh-ground almond butter.

3. Eat a wide variety of foods
The most popular way to eat vegetables in America is through potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes and corn. Is it any wonder we’re turning to processed foods for flavor?

Eating a variety of foods (especially produce) on a regular basis keeps you interested in the food you’re eating and makes you feel less deprived. If you’re enjoying what you’re eating and feeling satiated at the end of each meal, you’ll be less likely to reach for something you don’t actually want to be eating.

Plus, enjoying a wide spectrum of foods helps keep other cravings at bay. More variety helps ensure you get all the nutrients you need in your diet and gives you options to keep your blood sugar up and get enough calories. 

What all this boils down to is that to successfully manage your cravings, you need to get to know yourself. Your needs are constantly changing and they don't always match up with someone else’s rule book. You are your own best judge when it comes to what’s going on in your own body and mind and what you need to feel your best. 

If you need some help getting started though, Methodology is here for you. We offer meals that are made with whole foods but designed to taste like comfort food to help curb your cravings. Many of our clients have reported a decrease in cravings after eating Methodology meals a couple times a week for 4 weeks. 

Want to give it a try? Click here to join our waitlist today or learn more about what we do.

4 reasons to eat what you want this 4th of July

Shorts, sunshine, fireworks, and beaches. There’s a lot to love about summertime. 

Unless we stress too much about summer food temptations. Yes, barbecues mean hot dogs and potato chips. The heat makes you reach for ice cream. And with all those social outings, there’s bound to be some (or a lot of) alcohol involved. 

So what’s the secret to resisting these temptations? 

You don’t. Just enjoy them! 

Because depriving yourself can actually be harmful.  

Here are 4 reasons why you should just live it up this 4th of July:

1 - Deciding something's off limits just makes you want it more

We all know that telling someone to stop thinking about something, like cake, brings cake to mind immediately and makes it more important than it actually is. Suddenly there's tension in your brain, knowing you want it but can't have it. Especially when it’s all around you on everyone else’s plates. Each piece in your line of vision is a reminder and contributes to a sense of scarcity. Which can only be removed if you eat cake. It's a dangerous cycle, because...

2 - Wanting something badly can lead to bingeing

Every time you see someone with that cake, you have to make a decision to say "No" in the executive control center of your brain. That requires you to use up a portion of the willpower you have left for the day. It's not infinite and becomes harder to use as the day goes on. After enough of these decisions, your willpower becomes weaker than your desire for cake and 99% of the time you give in before the end of the party. But instead of savoring one small piece, you don’t care anymore. Since you’re being “bad” anyways, you scarf down three slices until you feel sick from all that frosting. 

3 - Your body will bounce back once you're back to your regular routine

How you look and feel overall isn’t determined by one party. It isn’t even determined by that piece of chocolate or glass of wine you have after dinner. It’s determined by how you eat 80% of the time. Those little treats all balance out when you’re fueling your body with clean proteins, vegetables and fruits most of the time. The hypothalamus portion of your brain has a "set point" it likes your weight to be at, so if you eat a little extra one day, you'll automatically want to eat a little less over the rest of the week. Even if you feel a little bloated or sluggish the next day because you went a little overboard, that’s okay. Your body will course correct once you’re back to a healthy routine. 

4 - You don't need to cling to extremes to love yourself

Deep down, you know the reason why you’re eating that cake (or any treat). There’s a big difference in intention when you’re celebrating vs pushing down feelings of sadness or emptiness vs reacting in frustration. When you look openly and honestly at that intention and act from a place of self-love, it’s easier to make choices that will lead to the best version of you. Without forcing yourself to follow extremes. That might come in the form of eating your leafy greens, or going for a run, or bonding with friends during the holidays over some goodies. They all add up to your health and happiness. Even if they don’t always look it on the surface. 

So don’t be afraid to indulge in your favorite foods this 4th of July! Just get back into your healthy routine on July 5th. 

If you need some help establishing a healthy routine, Methodology meals are a great way to eat clean on a weekly basis without any hassle. Join our waitlist today or learn more about what we do.

What is Methodology?

In today’s busy world, healthy eating sometimes seems impossible. Restaurants and fast food are all around, but knowing exactly what makes up the food you’re eating (right down to the oil it’s cooking in) is usually difficult at best. And there isn’t always enough time to find a recipe, shop for quality ingredients and cook an entire meal. Even if you know what items you’re supposed to eat, it’s not always clear how much you’re supposed to eat. Or how to know you’re getting enough protein, vegetables, vitamins and minerals.

These are the problems Methodology’s working to solve. We know that a lot can get in the way of eating well, but we also know that the food you eat determines the quality of your life. So we decided to make clean meals that taste amazing, meet all your nutritional needs, and fit easily into your busy lifestyle.

How does it work?

Meals are assigned to you every week based on your account preferences and any meals you’ve rated in the past. The more meals you rate, the better we become at assigning them to you. But just in case you want to change it up, you have until Thursday at noon the week before your delivery to make changes to the meals you’ve been assigned.

We deliver your fully cooked meals on Mondays and Thursdays. All you have to do is grab your meal when you’re ready to eat, heat it up on the stovetop or in the microwave and enjoy!

Why every week? Does it have to be a subscription?

When we designed Methodology, we knew that on-demand services were hot in San Francisco. It’s appealing to come home after a long day at work and order in whatever you want. But think about the things your order. It could be salad, but it could also be hot wings or pizza.

So we created a subscription plan to act almost like an insurance plan for people who really want to commit to a healthier lifestyle. The likelihood that you’ll go home and order fried chicken and a cookie becomes much smaller if you have a healthy (and delicious) meal sitting in your refrigerator. Not only have you already paid for it, but it’ll also be ready faster (5 minute cook time on your stovetop compared to 30 minutes to decide what you want and another 15-45 for delivery). This helps make healthy your default rather than the “if I have to” or “I guess I should” option.

What do you mean by "clean"?

There are a lot of definitions of clean eating, so here’s our standard:

We buy the best ingredients possible. Period. This means making sure our produce is pesticide-free and our meat is steroid-, hormone- and antibiotic-free. It also means buying from local farms using sustainable practices whenever possible and using ingredients that are in-season.

All of these factors contribute to more nutrients that are more easily absorbed by your body. It’s what’s best for you, the environment, and the local farming community. So it just make sense.

But eating good foods isn’t enough to make you feel great. We also eliminate the most common inflammatory foods from your meals:

• Gluten
• Dairy (with the exception of pastured ghee)
• Artificial ingredients and preservatives
• Artificial and refined sugar
• Canola, vegetable and hydrogenated oils

Our chefs have perfected the art of cooking without these ingredients so you don’t even miss them when they’re gone. And just in case we missed anything, we allow you to personalize your preferences.

When you say personalization...

You can personalize your meals in three ways:

1. Skip the foods that make you sick. If there are foods you can’t eat, let us know in your account preferences. We won’t assign you meals that contain those foods. You can select broad categories like Red Meat or Seafood, or you can select more specific ingredients like Chicken, Avocado or Walnuts.

Don’t see an ingredient you’re looking for on the list of foods to avoid? Just send us an email and we’ll let you know if it’s something we’re able to accommodate.

P.S. Gluten is already eliminated from all meals, so it won’t be an option on this list.

2. Choose your size. We offer four sizes to fit your needs: small, medium, large and couples.

Smalls range from 300-450 calories, mediums from 400-550 calories and larges from 500-650 calories. Couples sizes serve two, so the calories range from 900-1200 for the entire meal. Total calories are for everything in the meal, including the sauce.

3. Do you want starches with that? Our Grace and Vitality plans allow you to choose whether you’d like to enjoy a little starchy goodness with every meal. Vitality meals are exactly the same as our Grace options, except that we’ve added a gluten-free starch like rice or quinoa. 

All of our Harmony (vegan) meals include starches to make sure you’re staying full 4-6 hours after eating.

What if I don't like your meals? Am I stuck?

We have a feeling you’re going to love our meals, but sometimes it’s not the right match. Don’t worry, there’s no minimum commitment. Just let us know by Thursday at noon the week before your next delivery and we’ll cancel your account.

And if you’re traveling temporarily? We’ve got you covered too. You can pause your account the weeks you’re gone and we’ll have fresh meals waiting for you when you get back.

We’re excited to help you on your healthy eating journey. If you'd like to try us out, then click here to join our waitlist. Or email help@gomethodology.com if you have any other questions. 

How Sugar Affects the Brain

It’s not news that too much sugar hurts you. But we keep eating it. And not just every once in awhile for a treat. The average American ends up eating over 100 pounds of sugar every year. Those boxes of cane sugar in the grocery store are one pound each, so imagine 100 of those. It’s more than three times the amount we were consuming in the year 1900.

So why do we keep doing it? Especially at a time when we’re blasted with stories about how over one-third of Americans are obese and 18.8 million are diagnosed with diabetes. The short answer: our brains make us do it.

How it’s supposed to work

When you eat a well-balanced meal, your cerebral cortex receives a signal that you’re consuming fuel. Something that’s going to keep you going for a few more hours until it’s time to eat again. And it wants to make sure you do this again as soon as that fuel runs out.

o it gives you a nudge. It tells the brain’s reward center to release some dopamine; that feel-good hormone that tells you, “I need more!” just in case you were thinking that would be your last meal for awhile.

The amount of dopamine released depends on what you eat and how often you eat it. If you eat the same thing over and over again, the amount of dopamine released goes down with each serving until you’re disgusted just looking at it. This is meant to encourage you to eat a variety of foods so you get all the vitamins and minerals you need to function at your best.

Sugar throws the curve

Sugar doesn’t play by these rules. Every time you consume sugar, you get a stronger dopamine spike than what you’d get with a balanced meal. It’s the most quickly absorbed source of energy when you’re feeling drained, and your brain sees that as a great thing and it wants more.

What it doesn’t take into consideration is that blood sugar levels will get too high if you eat too much sugar in a short period of time. But your pancreas does. It’s the job of the pancreas to keep your blood sugar in check, and when blood glucose levels get too high it floods your system with insulin to pull glucose out of the bloodstream. That’s when you get a sugar crash.

But now your brain knows how to fix this problem. More sugar! And maybe this time, a higher dose of sugar will keep your blood sugar stable longer. So it takes a little more sugar to create a dopamine release which starts an addictive cycle of craving, sugar, crash until you can’t stop yourself.

Breaking the cycle

So how do we give up sugar? It’s something we’ve all tried, but very few of us have succeeded. Here’re some tips to take back control over what you eat:

1. Don't get hangry

If you’re getting hungry to the point where you're shaking, you're waiting too long to eat and your blood sugar levels are getting dangerously low. You’re practically asking for sugar cravings because your brain knows the quick fix to boost those blood glucose levels.

Make sure to eat a well balanced meal (with lots of protein, vegetables and healthy fats) every 4-6 hours to keep yourself from getting to the hangry stage.

2. Know what counts as sugar

The less you eat sugar, the less your brain’s going to turn to it as a quick fix. But in today’s world, sugar doesn't just come in the form of raw sugar cane. 

Common forms of sugar include corn syrup, fruit juice, honey, molasses, syrup and agave. It can also be listed as sucrose, glucose, maltose, lactose and dextrose. And starch too.

Yes, starches count as well. When they’re broken down they turn into sugar and processed by the body in a similar way.

Unlike sugar, there’s some nutritional value to whole grains, so it’s not something you need to avoid forever. But when you’re trying to get over sugar cravings, it can help to avoid these until your body regains balance.

3. Eat your fiber

Fiber has a lot of advantages, one being that it keeps your blood sugar levels stable even when you’re eating something starchy or sugary. It slows the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream so you don’t get that same spike and crash. Without a crash, you don’t need to get your blood sugar back up and there’s less reason for your brain to bring on the cravings.

Fiber comes from vegetables, avocados, berries, legumes and nuts. It can also be found in whole grains, but if you’re trying to wean off the sugar cravings then those aren’t your best choices. At least not until the cravings are gone.

Want some help getting rid of your sugar cravings? Methodology's grain-free Grace plan offers balanced, delicious meals to make it easier to get rid of cravings. Click here to join our waitlist.

Founder Interview: Julie's Journey from Fast Food to Wellness Start-Up

Our friends at FirstMark go inside Julie’s journey from drive-thru fast food to founding her own health and wellness start-up.  Did you know:  Julie wanted be Katie Couric when she was a kid, she studied economics at Stanford, and she gets inspiration from hearing for you, our customers.  

To learn more about Julie’s path, read here.  

https://medium.com/@FirstMark/how-a-healthy-thriving-startup-was-born-from-julie-nguyens-clean-food-cure-e6db47568483#.bpvtt6xl3