10ways to feel full, not Fat
If you find that you are never feeling satisfied after a meal or just an hour
or
so later you are
reaching for a snack to pick you up? Well, we're here to help with some
feel-full strategies.
Granted there are foods that can boost your feelings of fullness but how, when
and where
you eat your meals can also have a bearing on your full factor too.
Here are 10 ways to keep your dining habits in check to maximise
your feelings of satiety and satisfaction.
(1) Sometimes go it
alone
People can eat more when they dine in company or with the television on
because they become distracted as to what exactly is going into their mouth.
Make sure mealtimes are all about the food, focus on it entirely and you'll
feel
full sooner.
Avoid fast-paced music too, this can increase the speed you eat, resulting in a
clean plate
before your body is able to recognise it is full.
(2) Smell and chew
When you eat make sure you give your meal a good sniff as concentrating on the
smell of your food
as well as the taste also switches on satiety signals. Secondly, chew, chew,
chew, and chew some more,
some of the hormones needed to send the satiety signals to the brain are
released by your chomping.
(3) Go for bulky and moist
The rationale behind the bulky and moist rule is pretty straightforward, simply
the more air and water in food
the quicker it will fill you up, calorie for calorie. So, in terms of food
swaps
have a vegetable soup rather than
a pasty, plain air-popped popcorn instead of crisps and grapes in place of
raisins.
(4) Wait after fat
If you do have a meal with a high-fat content then make sure you allow time for
that feeling of fullness to come.
It can take longer for sense of satiety to come from a fatty meal compared to
meal high in protein for example,
so allow time for the feeling of fullness from the fat to kick in.
(5) Get enough sleep
When your body is deprived of sleep it produces more ghrelin and less leptin.
These are the hormones that are involved in the regulation of appetite;
ghrelin is produced largely in the stomach and accelerates your appetite,
while leptin decreases appetite as it's the hormone that signals satiety.
(6) Get hydrated
The daily recommended amount of water to drink is around the eight glasses
mark,
but many of us don't get anywhere near that amount and as a result when we feel
hungry,
it is often because we're actually thirsty. Drink a glass or two of water
before
a meal,
and when you do eat, the food will feel more filling.
(7) Get a smaller plate
People tend to fill their plate however big it is, and most of us eat until it
is empty.
And the aim of getting a 'clean plate' makes us more likely to override the
satiety signals that stop us eating.
So, swap your normal plate for a slightly smaller one, and you'll find your
'full' switch will flip a little faster.
(8) Choose fiddly foods
If you eat foods that take a little time and effort to eat, this will allow
time
for your body
to recognise the fullness feeling. Good examples of fiddly foods are corn on
the
cob,
a crunchy salad or fish with bones, these types of foods force you to eat more
slowly
and help you to feel full quicker.
(9) Eat an apple before each meal
Apples help to promote a feeling of fullness and research has shown that eating
an apple
20 minutes prior to eating a meal reduced the amount of food that was consumed
at that meal.
So, including an apple for your daily snack will not only contribute to one of
your daily
recommended fruit or veggie portions but the fibre will fill up your stomach
too.
(10) Be natural
Try to eat food that is as natural as possible as most manufactured foods tend
to be very energy-dense
which means they contain more calories bite-for-bite. However raw fruit and
vegetables take a lot of chewing
and occupy a lot of room in your stomach so they fill you up much more per bite.
