Weight Loss: How To Stay Full For Long, 7 Points

Experts recommend portion control for weight loss. Simple. However, it is more difficult than it sounds. Eating less in one meal makes you hungry sooner. Hence, you snack, making you eat all those calories you were trying to steer clear of. So, what is the way out? One of the strategies that might work here is incorporating such foods in your diet that make you feel full longer. Also, there are strategies you can incorporate for the same results. Nutritionist Subhasree Ray shared seven such tips to stay full longer in one of her posts on Twitter. Let’s take a look at them one by one.

Tips On How To Stay Full Longer

Here is what you can do to feel fuller longer and stop yourself from eating extra calories:

1. Include Vegetables In Every Meal

Vegetables are among the high nutrition, low-calorie foods. They are packed with vital vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Since these contain a lot of water and fiber content, they make you full for a long time. Also, since they take a lot of time chewing, hence, the whole experience is satisfying for many. What you can do is, apart from including vegetables in your meals, have salads before every meal. It will save you calories and provide you with ample nutrition.

2. Eat Plenty Of Protein

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Out of the three macronutrients, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, protein is considered the most filling in nature. A study on overweight women showed that when they increased their protein intake from 15% to 30%, they ate 441 fewer calories, without intentionally restricting their food intake. Protein reduces the level of the hunger hormone ghrelin and increases the level of the satiety hormone. What you can do is replace some of the fats and carbohydrates in your diet with protein. For example, instead of having an extra serving of rice, have some curd or soybean curry.

Also read: What If You Don’t Get Enough Protein?

3. Eat Slow-Digesting Complex Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates make you fat is a misnomer. It is the vital macronutrient you need to have in your diet for energy. A thing that you can do for portion control and reducing your calorie intake is to eat slow-digesting complex carbohydrates. These digest at a slow pace and glucose is steadily released in your bloodstream. Oats are a great option for complex carbs. Other examples include brown rice, buckwheat, starchy vegetables, beans, and legumes.

7 ways to stay full for longer. pic.twitter.com/WLx3Ft4IZM — Subhasree Ray (@DrSubhasree) February 6, 2022

4. Include Healthy Fats

‘Steer clear of fats to lose weight and stay thin’ is something we all have heard. In the race to lose weight, we often forget that fat is a vital macronutrient one needs to include in a diet for the body to function properly and optimally. There is one kind of fat you must include in your diet when trying to lose weight. These are healthy fats. These are digested slowly, hence, inducing the feeling of satiety, a leading international health website reported quoting a nutritionist. Hence, far from the generally accepted belief, (healthy) fats make you feel full and prevent you from snacking on unhealthy foods. Some good sources of healthy fats include fish, avocado, seeds such as pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, eggs, nuts, beans, and olive oil.

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5. Water In Between Meals

Water is filling. It’s also loaded with fiber. Having water in between meals is another tip that nutritionist Subhasree recommends. Drinking seven to eight glasses of water a day is generally recommended.

6. Avoid Restrictions & Slow Down

So many of us have developed this habit of eating food mindlessly in front of a TV or computer screen. And more than often, we eat more than what is needed leading to weight gain. Hence, if you are fully resolved to lose weight, avoid every restriction while eating. Just focus on the food, its nutritional content, taste, and the act overall. It will also give you that window to slow down and make you rejuvenated to resume your work.

Also read: Why Eating Mindfully Is Important for Health. What Happens When You Don't

7. Pick The Meal Frequency That Works For You

Some recommend having three large meals in a day. Some experts recommend including two small meals in between the large ones. However, what you should do is listen to your body and pick the meal frequency that works for you. Every person’s body is different so should their meal frequency.

Following a calorie-deficit diet is crucial to losing weight. For doing that, including such foods in your diet that make you feel full can be helpful. Drinking water in between meals, avoiding distractions, and picking the meal frequency as per your need are other strategies that can work. Other than these, getting ample physical activity will help you immensely in losing weight and getting fit.

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