Losing weight is an effort. There's no doubt about that. And it's no secret that eating less = weight loss (in addition to keeping active and eating properly). I mean when you think about it, most of the weight loss products out there are aimed at helping you eat less. There are diet pills that suppress appetites, surgeries that lessen the stomach's capacity, and other pills that puff up inside the stomach to give the illusion of being full. But are these really necessary? All we really need is determination and self discipline. Is it easy? Not always, but that doesn't mean it's overly difficult or cannot be done. Here's a nifty little trick I learned to shrinking the stomach's capacity. And it's free.
Have you ever noticed how the majority of Europeans are thinner than Americans? How can that be considering their diet is rich in carbs, cremes and sweets? Perhaps it's because in Europe the average dinner plate is 1-2 inches smaller than in the U.S. That means every day Americans are filling their plates with more food than their thinner European friends. I personally know several people who are very overweight and eat healthy. Yes, skinless chicken breast is good for you, but when you're eating 4 at a meal, it's no longer healthy. That's just plain gorging. Again, it's about the portions and self control. So if you want to lose weight, try switching your dinner plate to a salad plate. And don't pile it super high either. No more than 1 ½ inches. When our brain sees a full plate, then sees an empty plate, it registers that we have completed our meal. Many of us were taught as children to eat everything on our plates. I know I was. And there's something that just seems wrong about leaving food on the plate. Maybe it stems from our grandparents going through the depression and eating everything because they didn't know when they would eat again. I don't know, it's just my theory.
Now here's the key to not being hungry when you first switch to smaller plates. Eat slowly! It takes the brain 20 minutes to receive the message from the stomach that it has had enough to sustain the body or that it's full. This means it should take you at least 20 minutes to eat. Longer if you really want to be good to your body. It also takes about 10 minutes for tastebuds to fully open up. So when you sit down for a meal, start by drinking at least ½ glass of water. Then when you take your first few bites, let the morsel rest on your tongue for just a minute and allow your mouth to salivate. Notice which area of the tongue is responding, enjoy the flavor! Set your silverware down while you chew. Chew thoroughly. Then when you've swallowed your bite of food, pick up your fork/spoon and repeat. After your 3rd bite of food, drink ½ glass of water. When you've done this three times, stop eating. Converse if there are others at the table. If you're in a restaurant alone, read a page of a book or a short article. Wait 5 minutes. Then before picking up the silverware again, really evaluate whether or not you are genuinely hungry. Many times, people with the overweight mentality believe that if they aren't full then they are hungry. That simply is NOT true. You do not need to eat until you're full. You need to eat to sustain your body and your body will do just fine when the nutritional needs are met. So STOP. Evaluate, and IF you are still genuinely hungry, continue eating in the same manner only proceed with the awareness and understanding that you will stop right at the point of not being hungry any more. Don't tell yourself “another 3 bites then I'll evaluate”. Take a bite or two then drink a little water. Don't worry about what's left on your plate. If you still cannot bring yourself to throw it away, save it for later. I can't tell you how many times I saved one or two bites when I first started to re-learning how to eat. The first few days, I would save a little. Then after about a week or so, I was saving 3 or 4 bites, then I stopped filling up the salad plate. I “loosely” filled it, and the borders of the plate got wider and wider. Within 6 weeks, I had lost 15 lbs! Once you get used to it, eating slowly and eating smaller portions will become second nature. It takes about 3 weeks to settle into your “skinny eating” style but hopefully you'll feel proud of yourself like I did when I realized that all it took was being aware and controlling myself! You can do it too!
Namaste and God Bless
Caution: It is very easy to have a false sense of security when you start seeing the weight come off. You may think that it's okay to get “full” just this once, but what you will be doing is stretching your stomach again and setting yourself up to larger and larger portions. Don't get caught in that trap.
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