Bodypower Fitness Centre

Feel Full Faster - Guaranteed!

Babies are impressively disciplined eaters. When their stomachs growl, they demand food. When they're satisfied, they stop. Force the issue and they swat away the offering with annoyance. But before long, most of us lose touch with what "full" should feel like. We eat for reasons other than hunger. We're so busy multitasking that we miss our body's cues to stop. And the weight piles on.

Most of us don't need a pill or injection to fool our bodies into feeling full. We just need to eat the right foods in the right way. And we need to listen to what our bodies tell us.

To start down the road to satiety (fullness), choose foods that are high in protein and fiber. Fiber swells in the stomach to create a greater sensation of fullness. That's what a lot of people are missing when they eat junk. Tofu, tempeh, fish and lean meat are all high-protein selections. High-fiber foods include whole grains, which slow digestion and give longer satisfaction after a meal. Other satiety-inducing foods include potatoes, brown rice and pasta, oatmeal, oranges, apples,baked beans and grapes.

S-L-O-W down. It takes 20 minutes for the brain to register fullness, enough time to pack in three servings. Special tips: put down your fork after every bite, take your hand off of it and only pick it up again after you've swallowed the last bite.

Load up on whole fruits and vegetables. Double the veggies in your stir fry, add veggies to a pasta dinner, throw tomato slices, cucumber, bell pepper, mushrooms on your sandwich, add apples, mangos or pears to your green salad. Not only are fruits and veggies high in fiber that increases fullness, but they are high in water content. They are also larger compared to low water-content foods, so it feels like we are eating more.

Wait for a hunger pang. Babies know when to start or stop eating because they're in tune with their bodies and don't have as much on their plate. Busy adults are overloaded with external stimuli. We eat more based on appetite - the visual appeal of food - rather than hunger or the physiological feeling we need food. Most of us never get to that point of feeling like we need to eat.

Use nonfood strategies. Turn off the television during a meal. Exercise daily to regulate satiety in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls appetite. Use smaller plates. And stay hydrated by drinking 5 to 6 glasses of water a day.

Still eating too much? Try the most popular infant eating strategy: smear your dinner on your hands, face and hair or fling it to the floor, one piece at a time.

(source: Diet & Exercise Summer 2006)