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Tips To Help Prevent Overeating
Our eyes are bigger than our stomach is a saying we are all familiar with and we understand the meaning. Most of us have fallen victim at least once in our life of stuffing ourself to the point where we end relating to the old commercial, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing". Why do we do this to ourselves sometimes? Why do some snack foods leave us unsatisfied which leads us to go to the cupboard and get a different snack, hoping this one will do it. I realize there are eating disorders, and people can try to use food for other issues that have nothing to do with hunger. That is a whole other topic which usually involves counseling. What I want touch on is food portion size and recognizing that what you think your body is saying is not always the truth and you can take control of that.
For instance, if you have just a little of the right kinds of fat before you go out to eat, you will be sending a signal to your brain that you're full. If you eat a little fat in the form of six walnuts, twelve almonds, or twenty peanuts 20-30 minutes before the meal, you'll stimulate production of CCK, which will both communicate with your brain and slow your stomach from emptying to keep you feeling full. A few nuts are not going to fill you up so you will be more able to eat for pleasure, not controlled by hunger. The "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse" thinking just leads you to a mission to make sure all your plates are clean, no matter how full you are. This is especially true at all you can eat buffets. Buffets can cast one into a eating coma with the mantra, "must try everything, must try everything". If you have a penchant to overeat, consider the buffet your enemy.
The average person is finished eating well before their satiety signals kick in, which counteracts the possibility of their hormones helping them. Take your time when eating, eat slowly. If you engulf your food faster than a MiniVac, you won't allow your satiety hormones time to kick in. It takes a lot of energy to digest food, this is why you feel tired after a big meal.
Most of us associate fiber with better health and increased toilet frequency, but fiber is the speed hump of your GI interstate in that it slows things way down. It slows down the food transit across the ileocecal valve, which helps keep your stomach fuller for longer periods of time. This means a greater feeling satiety and an increase of appetite-suppressing CCK-like signals. You should aim for around 30 grams of fiber a day with the bulk of that being in the morning. This will help curb hunger attacks later. Besides controlling blood sugar levels and decreasing insulin levels, fiber also reduces calorie intake up to eighteen hours a day. Start with a few grams of fiber before meals and at bedtime and slowly increase to 5 grams. If you add it all at once you'll produce more gas than a Saudi oil field.
Huge portion sizes are one of our stomach's biggest enemies. Bad foods in big containers have a way of consuming more than if the food was in two smaller containers. Be aware of that trap and just take a small portion of each. We do tend to look at a clean plate as being satisfied, no matter how big or small the plate is, so try a smaller plate. Another tip, do not eat out of the carton or box for this same reason. The "there is just a little bit left, so I might as well finish it" can get you into trouble.
You may try adding some red pepper to your egg-white omelet in the morning. Red pepper contains capsaicin and it seems to be a catalyst for decreasing overall calorie intake and increasing your body's metabolism.
Remember, your stomach is not that big, and whether you are trying to gain or lose weight, small portions with increased frequency of good foods is the key. We are wired to eat, but not wired to eat a lot.
About the Author Joni Bell has many years of extensive study in the area of natural cancer prevention and treatment. He has numerous success stories of people being diagnosed living cancer free with use of alternative methods. Ask Joni Bell!
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