“The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.” – Lucille Ball
Ok so you have been following the “One Plate” strategy and you are starting to see some results. Good for you. It’s easier than you thought right? But, sometimes you are still hungry…what can we do about this?
Well, I discovered (it was new for me) some interesting things about my body as I went through this process myself. Our mechanical body, animal body, the body that has, through evolution, developed these mechanisms to ensure our survival is absolutely amazing. It functions, typically, very well indeed. It has mechanisms to tell us when to start eating (hungry) and stop eating (full). It even tells us what it thinks it needs (cravings).
So, how can this help us to lose weight? Well, we if understand some of these things we can utilize them to help us control our body instead of being out of control. Did you ever hear your mom say – SLOW DOWN and CHEW Your Food? Well, turns out that is one of the mechanisms for your body to tell when you have eaten enough. The act of chewing sends signals to your brain telling your body that you are eating and receiving nourishment. Your body will also send signals telling us when we are full.
Ever eat dinner with both a fat and a thin person? I bet you the fat one eats much faster. My daughter-in-law (whom I love deeply!) eats SO SLOW…she is always the last one done and she is always the skinniest! So, we can follow mom’s advice (thanks mom!) and we can slow it down and chew our food…utilizing our own body to help inform us we are full.
Next step is that we have to LISTEN to our body. You know when you “feel full” – that feeling like – OMG, I am going to burst. Let me open my button on my pants and give me some space. Yeah…that one! I can tell you that if you listened to your body you were full WAY before that! You should stop eating when you are satiated not when you “feel full”. Eating slowly and chewing your food, you will know when it’s right.
Another thing you can do – you can use what I call Bulking Foods. These are foods that are very low in calories but fill you up. So even if you go until you “feel full” (which really means overeating), you will not be piling on too many calories. Some of my favorites are: Watermelon, Broccoli, cauliflower, blue berries and green beans. I love to add a can of green beans to my lite soup to “bulk it up” the entire can is 75 calories! There are many, many more.
I created a video a few years ago about how much is 100 calories. You can view the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewpwLt9UwRw
Lastly for today, drink lots of water. Your body needs water for so many things. Drinking plenty of water will add in your digestion, blood flow, waste elimination and will fill you up. Ditch the soda, the fruit drinks and especially those energy drinks and fill up on water. It’s the best thing for your body.
I will be back with more tips for you next week!
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