HUNGRY AND HOW??? Like the very hungry caterpillar! Do you remember his Saturday eating spree in the world famous Eric Carle book! Mansi, a dietitian in Antwerp, Belgium is more of a food coach. Her No-diet Approach is scientific and practical.
Lets say, you spent the last 10 days cutting calories and being so disciplined, but all of a sudden you are as hungry as a caterpillar nibbling everything in front of you!
You just ate a meal, and in the next few minutes you find yourself opening the fridge or a jar of krakers or cookies ☺
Its sometimes almost like have no control over yourself!
Later you feel guilty over ruining all the efforts of the previous week or feel demotivated to follow the healthy road plan again.
Thankfully, here are few tips which can help you.
Research suggests that regularly eating a healthy breakfast will reduce your hunger as the day progresses and reduces your risk to overeat later in the day. Keep in mind that while you sleep, your body is actually in a fasting mode and if you skip breakfast, your body then initiates a storage mode which may lead to weight gain. Our Antwerp dietician Mansi thinks that breakfast actually means to break a fast. If you have indulged eating late at night, skipping breakfast is absolutely okay!
If your last meal is very late at night, you may count 10-12 hours before you begin eating again.
Don’t ignore this calorie – free drink of nature! Drinking water helps to increases the number of calories you burn, which is known as resting energy expenditure.
In adults, the resting energy expenditure has been shown to increase by 24–30% within 10 minutes of drinking water. This lasts at least 60 minutes. Beneficial effects are shown in children too. It is also important to note that 1 & half litres of water per day is enough to attain these benefits.
Please note that drinking excessive water does not result in any benefits, infact may increase bloating and heaviness in individuals and does not reduce your hunger. As a practicing dietitian in Antwerp since 2008, Mansi strives hard to say YES to facts and NO to fads!
When you eat more sugary foods, it spikes your body’s insulin levels. Sugar is rapidly absorbed into your bloodsteam but there is more circulating insulin in your system which will be an appetite stimulant, in turn making you eat more! Talk about those hunger pangs when you have a box of cookies or pralines staring at you.
Combining sugary foods with fiber rich sources like grains and vegetables may help lower the insulin response and cause you to eat smaller portions to satisfy your cravings!
Do you want to tackle your hunger pangs? Emphasize then on high volume, low calorie foods.
Raw vegetables and fruits are examples of high volume, low calorie foods. Nuts and quinoa on the other hand are low volume, high calorie foods. Our dietician in Antwerp, Mansi emphasizes that not everything healthy is low in calories!
How will this combination help my hunger? It will regulate ghrelin. Ghrelin is the hunger hormone which is released when the stomach is empty. Levels of ghrelin remain high until food stretches your stomach.
Protein foods delay stomach emptying and can curb the hunger for 3-4 hours. Protein foods play a physiological role in controlling your appetite.
Instead of eating nuts with breakfast which is a common habit, eat them at a time when you feel a hunger crunch in the middle of the day like at 5pm for instance.
MANSI is a registered dietitian who consults in Antwerp, Belgium and also offers online consultations. Her No-Diet Approach is path breaking and offers easy and practical solutions to tackling obesity and medical conditions.
