Healthy Diet Tip #4

Are you sensing a pattern here?  First, you took a pause in the meal, then a little pause with each bite.  Now I'm asking you not to overlap your actions.  The idea is not to wolf your food down, eating was never meant to be a race.  The only prize for finishing your food in record time is heartburn, or packing in calories that you don't need.  Slow down and enjoy your food.  All of these actions help to let your stomach send those signals of fullness to your satiety center, allowing you to feel more full even though you've eaten less.  Finishing what's in your mouth before putting your hands in gear helps with that effort

Healthy Diet Tip #3

 So you've taken a pause and put down your fork, why would you want to look at the next serving of food staring you in the face, telling you to take more?  Once everyone is served, remove those serving dishes from the table.  Not having them in front of you, you can put temptation behind you.   It's still in the kitchen if someone is really in need of more food, just not there as to sabotage your diet.  If you don't see it, you likely won't take it, you won't miss it, and you'll miss the weight you would have gained even less.

Healthy Diet Tip #2

Here's the second tip in a series of little actions that help with dieting.

So you're good at taking one pause while you are eating.  Now, work on putting your fork, or your spoon, down between bites.  That will help you establish a slower pace of eating.  And eating slower lets you enjoy the food more -- the taste, the smells, the experience.  And when you are finished the meal, you will feel more satisfied by what you have eaten.  It's a small act, but it will help you to be more conscious of what, and how much, you are eating.  After all, when your utensil is on your plate, it's not in your mouth.

 

Healthy Diet Tip #1

 

Over the years I was in practice, the need to address weight, and along with that diet, was one of the most common issues discussed.  This week, the beginning of a series of tips, based on a scheme from the last century, which may help some people.  Each graphic is a tip, which can be printed out as a card to put on the table.  I will include a little text to elaborate, but I think you will get the idea.

The first tip is to plan a pause during your meal.  Uninterrupted eating can lead to overeating.  That's why it is an excellent practice to plan a two or three minute pause at about the midpoint in your meal.  This gives your satiety center a chance to "catch up" with your stomach and what you have eaten, so that you will begin to feel full.  Some use an egg timer to time their pause, or you could use the timer on  your phone, or take a break to check the news feed or email.  It doesn't matter.  The important things is to take that break.  You will likely eat less, and yet feel fuller.