Don’t you hate those people who can eat as much as they want and still not gain a thing? They’ve been blessed with a fast metabolism and a good amount of lean muscle mass. But eventually, even they will have to watch how much they eat to avoid becoming overweight. With the natural aging process, their metabolism will slow gradually, forcing them to change their eating habits.
So, for all of you who are watching what you eat, are following an exercise regimen and are on a diet, or used to have a fast metabolism but now don’t, here are 4 helpful tips to keep your appetite satiated without over eating at the dinner table (the kitchen counter, buffet bar, or wherever else you tend to gorge). Controlling your portions will allow you to maintain a healthy balance between the amount of calories you consume and the amount of calories you burn throughout a single day.
1. Eat slowly. It takes a little while to send the message to your brain that your stomach is full – about 20 minutes. That means you have to eat more slowly, savouring every bite you take. Appreciating your food allows your stomach to send the message to your brain that it’s full, before too much food is consumed. This helps prevent overeating, and feeling satiated but not stuffed.
2. Know how much a “portion” is. To control your portions, you need to know what exactly a “portion” is. Monitor what you eat and record what the average size of specific foods are. Then, simply maintain those sizes or reduce them if it’s too much. It may be tedious at first, but your waistline will thank you for your diligence.
If you’d like to know what a healthy portion size is, you can read the nutrition label to see what a serving size is or refer to charts available on sites devoted to nutrition, such as the one available on the Health Canada website called Canada’s Food Guide.
3. Less is more. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can provide lasting energy despite being low in calories. Consider eating more of these foods instead of things like meat and cheese, which are chock full of calories. The good thing about this is that you can eat way more lower calorie foods, both in quantity and variety.
4. Control your cravings. You want a cookie, but to satisfy your craving, do you really need to eat the whole thing? Try taking just one bite and savour it slowly. In many cases, one bite is just enough to satisfy that craving. Or better yet, experts say that the feeling of craving for a food lasts about 10 minutes. So before you even take a bite, try to occupy yourself with an activity for 15 minutes. Chances are, by the time the 15 minutes is up, you won’t be craving that cookie anymore.
