How to Eat Thin
Have you ever wondered why some people gain weight over the holiday and some people don’t? Especially good friends and family members who went to the same social events and ate the same food but didn’t seem to gain a pound. We all burn a different number of calories each day based on our height, weight, age, gender, and amount of exercise, but is the difference so big that your skinny best friend can eat the Christmas cheesecake without gaining an ounce while you gain pounds? How do the thin people get through the holidays without gaining weight? Maybe it isn’t “what” they are eating, but “how” they are eating.
There are some common characteristics among people who struggle with their weight that has more to do with how they eat than what they eat: eating fast, multi-task while eating, eat until a feeling of fullness, and eat only 1-2 times per day. You may not have each characteristics, but it takes only one of these behaviors to make managing your weight more difficult. Two research studies were released this month, one from the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology and the other from The Obesity Society, reporting on mindfulness, chewing, and eating pace related to obesity and weight loss. The studies concluded that when subjects eat slower and were more mindful of what they were eating, they reported increased food enjoyment and lower calorie intake. With today’s busy schedules it is no wonder that people are eating fast while doing other things and lose track of how much they ate. People who maintain a healthy weight may seem like they are eating all the time, but they do it slowly and rarely finish what they started because they don’t like the feeling of being full. If you want to eat like a thin person, here are my tips:
Slow down the pace of eating. Are you often putting the next fork full of food in your mouth before the last fork full is swallowed? Try putting your utensil down between bites and wait a minute before picking the utensil back up. This will force you to slow down and feel satisfied before you finish your food.
Take small bites and chew your food thoroughly. Choose a smaller fork or spoon to eat with and chew 30 times before swallowing your food. With so much focus on stomach bloating, we often forget that chewing is the first step of digestion. If your food is swallowed in smaller batches and chewed well, it will be better prepared for digestion, less irritating, and more satisfying.
Eat until you are satisfied, not full. The capacity of the average stomach is two cups. If you wait until you feel full to stop eating, you are stretching your stomach at every meal. Every time you stretch your stomach, it will take more food to get the feeling of fullness, leading to large portions and overeating. If you stop eating once you feel satisfied, you are more likely maintain a 2 cups capacity and eat less food at each meal. Smaller portions lead to smaller waistlines.
Avoid distracted eating, it is as dangerous to the scale as distracted driving is on the road. When you eat anything, do nothing else! I realize this sounds impossible, but if you don’t focus on what you are eating it won’t register in your satisfaction system. Think about how satisfied you felt the last time you ate popcorn at the movies. Do you honestly remember eating the popcorn, or just the bucket being full when you walked into the theatre and empty when you walked out? If you focus on what you are eating and do nothing else (no TV, computer, phone, book, or magazine) you will feel more satisfied and eat less.
Eat 4-6 small meals or snacks daily. If you slow down your pace of eating and focus on your food, you will eat less, which means you will probably be hungry sooner, and you will need to eat more often. Eating only one or two large meals a day overloads the digestive system for a few hours, then shuts it down until the next meal. If you eat small portions more often, you will give your digestive tract work to do all day in small batches. Eating small frequent meals can results in an improved metabolism, better blood sugar control, reduced reflux, less bloating, and improved nutrient absorption. For optimal digestion and better sleep, stop eating at least 2-3 hours before going to bed.
Always leave something behind. When you eat something, do you feel the need to finish it? If so, you are an official member of the clean plate club. Unfortunately, most members of this club also struggle with their weight. Feeling the need to eat all that you are given means you are not listening to your satisfaction signals and pushing through until all the food is gone, which leads to overeating and stretching your stomach. Work on making it a habit to always leave some food on your plate, even if it is just a bite. That one bite at each meal or snack can lead to 100 less calories per day and a 10-pound weight loss per year.