Conquer The Need to Feel Full

Question: My problem is not just what I'm eating, but also the fact that I overeat. I seem to need to feel stuffed in order to be satisfied. I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to cut back on portion sizes or suggestions on what I could eat that would give me that full feeling.
Answer: This is a common problem. We want, like and need the full feeling, yet we have to stop eating before we get this feeling. This is tough. Here are some of the rules I follow to keep me in shape and I recommend to my audiences:
1. Keep boring foods at home. Be sure to stock up on fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods that are not quick and easy to swallow. A muffin slides down the gullet, without chewing, much quicker than a whole-wheat peanut butter sandwich. Then again, if you love peanut butter and feel good spreading it lightly on your bread, that is fine. If you scoop it out of the container in spoonfuls, you’re in trouble.
2. Know your food weaknesses and keep these foods out of sight. If someone leaves chips at my home, they would stay there until they go stale. If someone gives me a box of chocolates, I can inhale the entire contents in 20 minutes. Sweet foods go home with the guests.
3. Avoid trigger foods. Sometimes, having a small taste of a dessert or a few fries is easy, at other times impossible. They just make you want to finish and have more. Then you’ll continue to eat more and more of these trigger foods until you feel stuffed. Judge for yourself, it may be easier to avoid a taste altogether than try a small mouthful and lose control. Try fooling yourself with a skim milk cappuccino as a replacement for a dessert.
4. Enjoy a vegetable soup before the main course. This will start you feeling full and limit the amount of food on your plate.

5. When preparing meals, keep clean and cut carrots or celery sticks nearby to chew on. If you’re ravenous, you’ll start eating while you cook, and then eat without an appetite.

6. Be sure that vegetables take up half your plate. Make that an important rule. Vegetables are filling because of the fibre content. You won’t feel the need to overindulge on the higher calorie protein and starch dishes.

7. End the meal with a hot beverage. If you have a cup of tea or coffee, you will feel that the meal is finished.

8. If you’re an evening snacker, floss your teeth after dinner; you won't want to do that twice.

9. Go for a walk after your meal. Sitting around picking at leftovers will make you feel too stuffed to walk. You will feel much better about yourself and have plenty of energy.

Print these suggestions out, highlight the ones relating to you and try for three weeks. Soon your stomach will get used to smaller portions and you will feel stuffed sooner. Overindulging will lead to a stomachache, which will remind you to cut back.

Let me know if you have “feeling full” rules to share with readers.

Traveling and Maintaining Weight

I've just returned from Helsinki, Tallinn, St Petersburg and Stockholm. It is really hard to eat well and travel if you aren't focused. It started with my grandsons and their candy and chips. After that I was tempted many times with desserts and other junk foods. Despite walking for 6 hours a day, my weight increased by 3 lbs in 2 weeks. Now that I'm back in NYC, I turned it around, eating perfectly, and have already dropped 1.5 lbs. I must say, I felt really chunky with only 3 lbs extra.

Find a Registered Dietitian (RD)!

If you want to know how to eat well, and need help, find a registered dietitian (RD) on www.eatright.org. Just put in your zip code and a list of dietitians in your area will appear.
Sadly, most physicians do not refer their patients to dietitians. The reason is unclear.
Not to worry, you can improve your eating habits with a qualified nutrition professional who will plan your meals, snacks and activity, and see you on a regular basis to keep you motivated. Keeping food and exercise records will help your dietitian and you understand where improvements can be made.
Take the first step to a healthy future! Contact your nearest RD!

Night Eating Syndrome (NES)

People suffering from NES eat more than 25% of their calories after dinner. We aren't talking salads and fruit, usually it's chips, chocolates and ice cream.
Changing this habit is hard. Start with having no junk in the home. Then eat when hungry. Then choose the right foods to eat such as fruit, yogurt, 2 cups popcorn, a glass of milk or 2 Tbsp nuts.
Make this a new habit and you'll feel better when going to sleep.
This will also mean less heartburn and snoring.

Skipping Breakfast

Many of my clients are not hungry for breakfast. When I ask them about their night-time eating habits, they usually eat dinner late or snack late, so are certainly not hungry in the morning. When I limit their late night eating to a fruit, they change their eating habits and enjoy breakfasts again.
It's not easy to change that habit, but studies show that people who eat breakfast are brighter, slimmer, and eat better the rest of the day.

Delicious, Nutritious Breakfast

My favorite breakfast consists of numerous high fiber cereals, sunflower seeds and dried cranberries, mixed in a canister and shaken up. This lasts a week. With 1 cup of this mixture, plus 1% milk and 1/2 a banana, and it's like eating dessert for breakfast.
This is much more nutritious than other breakfast desserts such as muffins, croissants and donuts.

Trigger Foods

In my last message, I mentioned how important it is to avoid sweet foods. This is because sweet foods are "trigger" foods for me. Once I start, I cannot stop.
For many of my clients, salty foods are trigger foods. For example, chips or cheese. Some start on chips, then are surprised when they see the empty bag, and cannot believe they finished the lot! Others will eat cheese in chunks. Of course, there are still more that eat peanut butter in spoonfuls out of the jar!
My recommendation: keep trigger foods out of your home; do not buy them yourself; do not eat them on your own (closet eating); try to control when out, or avoid altogether.
There is just no easy way to stop the rush you get when you taste one of your trigger foods.
Over time, feeling healthy and slim will be more exciting than overeating.
Good luck.