Portion Control - Knowing You're Full
dcrear28
Posts: 12 Member
Portion control is a struggle that many people fight at each meal. In this post I want to focus on the topic of knowing when you're full. Putting it in engineering terms (yea I know figures I'd use an engineering analogy), your stomach is the vessel that is being measured for fullness, while your brain is device that registers that level. Unfortunately there is 15 minutes of delay or lag between when your stomach reaches its full state and when your brain actually registers it. Could you imagine if the gas pump worked this way and took even just 15 extra seconds to register that your gas tank was already full?!?! I can't, not at $4/gal... Anyway I digress. Understanding that this is how the human body works is very beneficial in portion control. Below are a few tips for managing this biological phenomena.
-Drink a glass of water before you sit down for a meal. The water does two things. First it starts that biological fullness clock for you a few minutes early and two it takes up some space in you stomach preventing you from eating as excessively
-Time your meals and don't go back for seconds until at least 15 minutes have passed since your first bite. More times than you think you will realize you were full with just your initial serving.
-Eat slower. I found that I eat much slower when I have others at the table to converse with. You can also make sure you chew every bit until its complete or apply the method of putting your fork down and chewing between each bit to control your pace.
-Drink a glass of water before you sit down for a meal. The water does two things. First it starts that biological fullness clock for you a few minutes early and two it takes up some space in you stomach preventing you from eating as excessively
-Time your meals and don't go back for seconds until at least 15 minutes have passed since your first bite. More times than you think you will realize you were full with just your initial serving.
-Eat slower. I found that I eat much slower when I have others at the table to converse with. You can also make sure you chew every bit until its complete or apply the method of putting your fork down and chewing between each bit to control your pace.
0