Tips & Tricks, part 1
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angelfarley
Posts: 5 Member
Overeating? Use smaller plates. Ever heard “my eyes overloaded my tummy?” a toddler sized plate with help to correct that. Also you can Chug a whole glass/bottle of water 5 minutes before you eat. Measure, measure, measure!!
Eating too fast? Try eating with your kid’s silverware too. This will teach you how big “a bite” is supposed to be. It takes at least 15 minutes for the Ghrelin (the hunger hormone) to produced adequate levels to signal to your brain that you are full. The first thing that happens inside your body to create the satiety (fullness) is pressure on the inner stomach walls. (see the tip in #1 about chugging water!!)If you still find that you are eating too fast, set down your fork after each bite. Like this- take a bite, fork down, sip water, next bite. This will really make you appreciate an appropriate rate of eating.
Avoid distractions during meals- TV, studying, reading, etc. Make meal times either quite times or solely revolved around the family. Doing things like studying and watching TV while you eat is number one- less proactive for the fam, and number two leaves you more susceptible to overeating!
Nutritionally wise meals begin at the store! Write down your weekly grocery list and evaluate the do’s and don’ts. If you need to send your grocery list to me and I will edit and send it back to give you an idea.
Cravings are a beast!! The number one thing to remember with a craving- is if its so intense that it is breaking your concentration and all you can do is think of that one thing you want so badly- HAVE IT!! This is not saying you should do this daily, but it is better to give in and have what your body is craving that to deprive it for 3 days and wind up binging. If you are like me- I'm a self proclaimed CHOCO-junkie, then a bit more direct approach may be warranted. For me to break a ridiculous multi-day sweets jonsing, I did this: in one day I ate as many ripe bananas as I could stand! I mean like 12, 15+!! The reason you crave sweets so badly is related to the fact that your body has learned a condition response of euphoria type feelings after consuming the sweet stuff. If you do this banana trick a few times, you will be repulsed by sweets and will break the association that you have learned over time between feeling good and junk foods! This sounds extreme, but trust me desperate times call for desperate measures! LOL
Another thing I have recently learned to do concerns the problem of still feeling hungry after you eat a whole meal-and you know you have ate enough but for whatever reason (usually stress in my case) still feel like eating. SIMPLE: I will guzzle 1-2 bottles of water when I feel like this. It fills my stomach to the point I feel so full I'm going to pop, its nothing but water, keeps me from going for those seconds I know I don’t need, and the only negative effect is a few more trips to the potty.
Invest in WHEAT BRAN. This stuff is amazing! You eat a few tablespoons mixed in applesauce or yogurt before your meal, drink down a glass or two of water, and Viola! It expands in your stomach like a sponge and helps you to eat less during the meal. Great for in between meals too!
A neat tip I read in a magazine a while back to help you control you portion sizes is to contrast the plate color to the food. For example eat pasta on a black or dark colored plate. The contrasting background color supposedly makes you pay more attention to the portion size of what’s on the plate… makes sense to me!
Get busy! Ever heard “idle hands makes the devil’s playground?” Well this couldn't be more true for me. A BIG reason I eat without being hungry is simply becuz I am bored. If I keep busy, indoors and outdoors, I find I am less likely to go raid the fridge!
Something else that helps me: taking pics of my food and posting to online groups. I know sounds silly, but knowing that you all are gonna see what I am eating has influenced my plate more than once!!!
For me, sometimes I have had to take drastic measures to avoid temptation. But the best place for me to not be threatened by tempting bad foods is in the garbage!!! Don’t even bring it in the house if its gonna present a problem! Prevention is key.
Remember that the ONLY purpose food serves is to fuel your body- food is not your friend so find comfort elsewhere, and YOU ARE NOT A DOG! Do not reward yourself with food! Those are both things I know I am certainly guilt of and struggle with a lot.
Eating too fast? Try eating with your kid’s silverware too. This will teach you how big “a bite” is supposed to be. It takes at least 15 minutes for the Ghrelin (the hunger hormone) to produced adequate levels to signal to your brain that you are full. The first thing that happens inside your body to create the satiety (fullness) is pressure on the inner stomach walls. (see the tip in #1 about chugging water!!)If you still find that you are eating too fast, set down your fork after each bite. Like this- take a bite, fork down, sip water, next bite. This will really make you appreciate an appropriate rate of eating.
Avoid distractions during meals- TV, studying, reading, etc. Make meal times either quite times or solely revolved around the family. Doing things like studying and watching TV while you eat is number one- less proactive for the fam, and number two leaves you more susceptible to overeating!
Nutritionally wise meals begin at the store! Write down your weekly grocery list and evaluate the do’s and don’ts. If you need to send your grocery list to me and I will edit and send it back to give you an idea.
Cravings are a beast!! The number one thing to remember with a craving- is if its so intense that it is breaking your concentration and all you can do is think of that one thing you want so badly- HAVE IT!! This is not saying you should do this daily, but it is better to give in and have what your body is craving that to deprive it for 3 days and wind up binging. If you are like me- I'm a self proclaimed CHOCO-junkie, then a bit more direct approach may be warranted. For me to break a ridiculous multi-day sweets jonsing, I did this: in one day I ate as many ripe bananas as I could stand! I mean like 12, 15+!! The reason you crave sweets so badly is related to the fact that your body has learned a condition response of euphoria type feelings after consuming the sweet stuff. If you do this banana trick a few times, you will be repulsed by sweets and will break the association that you have learned over time between feeling good and junk foods! This sounds extreme, but trust me desperate times call for desperate measures! LOL
Another thing I have recently learned to do concerns the problem of still feeling hungry after you eat a whole meal-and you know you have ate enough but for whatever reason (usually stress in my case) still feel like eating. SIMPLE: I will guzzle 1-2 bottles of water when I feel like this. It fills my stomach to the point I feel so full I'm going to pop, its nothing but water, keeps me from going for those seconds I know I don’t need, and the only negative effect is a few more trips to the potty.
Invest in WHEAT BRAN. This stuff is amazing! You eat a few tablespoons mixed in applesauce or yogurt before your meal, drink down a glass or two of water, and Viola! It expands in your stomach like a sponge and helps you to eat less during the meal. Great for in between meals too!
A neat tip I read in a magazine a while back to help you control you portion sizes is to contrast the plate color to the food. For example eat pasta on a black or dark colored plate. The contrasting background color supposedly makes you pay more attention to the portion size of what’s on the plate… makes sense to me!
Get busy! Ever heard “idle hands makes the devil’s playground?” Well this couldn't be more true for me. A BIG reason I eat without being hungry is simply becuz I am bored. If I keep busy, indoors and outdoors, I find I am less likely to go raid the fridge!
Something else that helps me: taking pics of my food and posting to online groups. I know sounds silly, but knowing that you all are gonna see what I am eating has influenced my plate more than once!!!
For me, sometimes I have had to take drastic measures to avoid temptation. But the best place for me to not be threatened by tempting bad foods is in the garbage!!! Don’t even bring it in the house if its gonna present a problem! Prevention is key.
Remember that the ONLY purpose food serves is to fuel your body- food is not your friend so find comfort elsewhere, and YOU ARE NOT A DOG! Do not reward yourself with food! Those are both things I know I am certainly guilt of and struggle with a lot.
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