Get More Satisfaction out of Your Food
Satiety, that lasting feeling of fullness at a meal's end, the feeling that you're no longer hungry or deprived, isn't a luxury celine bag online when it comes to losing weight. In fact, it may be your ticket to lifelong weight management.
"To get more satisfaction out of food, the idea is to fill up on foods that give you a lot of volume for relatively few calories," says Karen MillerKovach, MS, RD, chief scientist at Weight Watchers International. For example, 1/4 cup of raisins and 1 2/3 cups of grapes have the same number of calories, but with the grapes, you obviously get to eat much more, and you're apt to feel more satisfied when you're through.
Besides fresh fruit like grapes, other satiating highvolume foods include complex carbohydrates that are high in water, air and/or fiber, such as airpopped popcorn, vegetables and whole grains like brown rice, says MillerKovach. But lean proteinrich foods, such as a skinless chicken breast, lowfat or nonfat yogurt or skim milk can also contribute to satiety, she adds. One caveat: "Make sure that first course isn't more than 100 calories," says Barbara Rolls, PhD, the Helen A. Guthrie chair of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University. Otherwise, you could end up eating too many calories at that particular meal.
According to Rolls' research, which has been published in her book The Volumetrics WeightControl Plan (HarperCollins, 2000), subjects who began their meals with a highvolume, lowcalorie starter like soup or salad ate 100 fewer calories over the course of the entire meal compared to those who started their meal with the entre.
Eat more vegetables, such as leafy greens, lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, summer squash and onions. In fact, stash them in stews, soups, pasta sauces, pizza and meat loaf. They're highvolume, highsatisfaction, lowcalorie superstars because they're loaded with water and fiber, Rolls says, two top filleruppers.
Limit very dry foods, such as pretzels, crackers and chips. Dry foods lack water and thus are low in volume. "Dry foods pack a lot of calories into a small portion and are easy to overeat," says Rolls.