Easy Ways to Eat Less This Year

Posted on by Emily in Food & Drink, General

Easy Ways to Eat Less This Year

The new year is here and many people are eager to find easy ways to eat less. For many of us (myself included!) the holidays were nothing more than a non-stop eating session, brimming with sugary-snacks, giant meals and rivers of wine. Now that it’s 2012 it’s not only time to get back into shape but perhaps become a little healthier than ever before.

As always, it’s important to try to eat healthy foods and exercise regularly. For many Americans, however, this is easier said than done. What’s more, it isn’t an issue of trying to eat better or exercise more, but rather just eat less. Overeating is a serious issue that so many people struggle with. For some it’s just an issue of portion-control. For others, it’s about compulsive behavior. So many of my family members are compulsive eaters– once they start they literally can’t stop.

Let’s talk about two great ways to eat less this year. First we’ll go over  portion control then we’ll jump into a list of foods that will make you feel full and eat less as a whole.

Easy Ways to Eat Less This Year

Many people aren’t aware of what a healthy serving size is and therein lies the problem with portion control. the average person should be consuming 2000 a day. You should always be somewhat conscious of how many calories you’re consuming on a daily basis, so keep a mental (or written) list.

A basic guide to what your an appropriate serving size for certain foods is best described with common objects. I’ve listed some of the foods that regularly appear on plates and how much you should be consuming.

Fruits & Veggies: an appropriate serving size is a 1/2 cup or the size of a tennis ball.

Salad: it’s recommended that you get a cup of leafy greens, or 2 tennis balls worth.

Rice & Pasta: 1/2 cup in a given meal or a serving the size of a tennis ball.

Cereal: you’re supposed to eat 3/4 cup of cereal or 1 computer mouse sized serving.

Yogurt: 3/4 cup or 1 computer mouse.

Cheese: the size of 6 standard dice.

Beef, Chicken, Pork or Fish: a serving the size of a deck of cards.

Beans/Tofu: 3/4 cup or the size of a computer mouse.

Nuts: 1/4 cup or the size of 2 golf balls.

So, let’s say that I were to make dinner for myself. On my plate I’d have 1 deck-of-cards-sized piece of salmon, 1 tennis balls worth of salad, and 1 tennis ball worth of rice. Make sense?

Another way to look at it– 1/2 your plate should be covered fruits in vegetables, 1/4 in protein and 1/4 in grains.

Easy Ways to Eat Less This Year

Now for foods that will help you eat less next year!

The following foodstuffs will also help you on your quest to curb your appetite:

Yogurt - With a perfect balance of carbs, protein and fat, this great food will help you balance your insulin levels and regulate your appetite.

Cinnamon - Cinnamon can help with weight loss in that it helps curb insulin spikes after meals, preventing you from getting the munchies later on. Incorporate cinnamon in your meals! My Mom used to always sprinkle cinnamon on apple slices to make fruit more interesting for us as kids.

Red Pepper - Spicy red peppers have something called capsaicin in them which recognized as a appetite suppressant, great for weight loss!

Vinegar - Studies have shown that people using vinegar with bread or salads are more likely to feel fuller. Give it a shot! Some people drink apple cider vinegar on the daily for digestive purposes as well.

Kale - Kale is full of fiber and anti-oxidants and is low in calories. Not only will this miracle vegetable give you energy and fill you up which is great for weight loss, it will help you prevent cancer. Even better.

Green Tea - Green tea is a great replacement for coffee for you caffeine junkies, but it also is full of catechins which speeds up your metabolism and helps you burn fat.

Beans - Beans are full of protein, help your digestive system and have a digestive hormone called cholecystokinin which is a natural appetite suppressant.

Grapefruit - Perhaps one of the biggest dieting myths is that eating half a grapefruit with a cup of coffee is sufficient for a breakfast. Not quite true. Eating grapefruit before a meal and drinking the juice throughout the day is a great way to use the phytochemicals in the fruit which help regulate your insulin levels as well as your appetite.

Goji Berries - High in protein, low in calories and a great afternoon snack. Also wonderful for your digestive system.

Easy Ways to Eat Less This Year

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