How to Eat Less and Feel Full Quicker!

Unless you live in Africa, it's extremely difficult in modern America to avoid over eating! The temptation to consume such yummy and satisfying sweets and cuisines is sometimes too overwhelming. So instead of throwing them completely out of your diet, I'm going to give you tips on how to eat less, and feel full quicker. With food control and a little exercise, you're bound to shed a few extra inches off the waist in no time.

It takes nearly 20 minutes for food to pass through the digestive system, and equally the same time for you to feel full. According to Dr. Irene Berman-Levine from Health and Age, a fast eater can eat three to four times the calories they need before their body has a chance to tell them they've had enough.

How can we slow ourselves down? The first step is to learn to savor each bite. This includes thinking about the taste and taking the time to chew before swallowing. Why not also try putting the fork down in between each bit. If you struggle with weight problems, do the opposite of what your mother always said. Spoil your appetite. If you're starving, have an 80 calorie snack 20 minutes before you plan to eat.

If you are getting the urge to eat, have a cup of tea. Tea is one the best natural appetite suppressants and is considered a metabolic stimulator and a diuretic. According to Deborah Mitchell, author of The Diet Pill Guide, if you drink 3 to 6 cups of green tea, it will help manage your appetite. A study conducted in 2000, found that rats given an extract of green tea had a significant decrease in food intake and body weight.

Green tea is made from the same plant that black tea is made from, but the leaves are only lightly processed. The tea contains beneficial substances called poly-phenols, which promote the burning of fat. Green tea also contains caffeine, a stimulant and diuretic.

The days of the microwaveable TV dinners are a thing of the past. When you eat in front of the tube or while reading a book, it contributes to over eating because your brain is too distracted to realize how much food your mouth is consuming. It comes down to basic psychology. Your brain forgets to tell you that you're full. Research shows that we often eat more junk food than healthy food while glued to the TV because people prefer foods with intense taste. If your brain is preoccupied, then you need something stronger to experience the taste at all.

Instead, make it a habit to only eat while sitting down at the kitchen table. This will make you more aware of what is going into your mouth, and allow you to feel full.

Fiber has been proven with weight loss, because it naturally makes you feel full. We can chew it and it feels crunchy, allowing us to satisfy our need to chew. It provides bulk, helping us to feel full after a meal high in it. It also helps to slow digestion. Instead of allowing the sugars in our foods (added and natural) to hit our system like a rocket and cause our blood sugar to spike, fiber will slow the process and allow the body to gradually absorb it, helping our blood sugar to remain stable. Stable blood sugar is what everyone who is trying to lose weight should be aiming for. Spikes and dips in blood sugar can cause cravings for sweets and exceptionally high and low energy levels.

Lastly, fiber helps to move things along the digestive tract so that nothing sticks around longer than usual. If you're dieting, make sure you get at least 21-25 grams of fiber for women, and 30-38 grams for men on a daily basis.  Some foods with naturally added high fiber include apples (with skin), bran cereal, avocados, and lentils.

We tend to eat with our eyes, not our stomachs. For many people, the sign of fullness is an empty plate. Consuming healthier portion sizes on a smaller plate may have the same effect. Researchers at Cornell University hosted an ice cream social in which one group was given a small bowl and the other was given a large bowl. The group with the large bowls ate 30% more ice cream without even realizing it.

By using smaller plates, bowls, and spoons, it creates an illusion of eating more food than you actually are.

When it comes to snack foods like chips, crackers, and cookies; it's all about portion control. Often times, when we grab that large bag of food, we lose track of how much we're eating because snacking is usually done in distracting places (i.e. driving the car, in front of the TV, or while on the computer).

Instead of buying snacks that come in large packages, try purchasing the individually-sized portions, and it will make you better aware of how much food you're putting in your mouth. Having to walk over to the pantry for each snack pack will also eventually become tedious, thus making you question if you really need it!