Nutrition Coaching Tip for Week 4: Eat slowly then stop when you are 80% full

February 3, 2012 7:29 pm / Posted in
Stop Mindless Eating 

People who eat lunch in front of their computers consume an average of 125 additional calories in afternoon snacks than those who dine without distractions, according to research conducted in the United Kingdom. Peter Rogers, co-author of the study, confirms that multi-tasking during meals might interfere with the brain’s ability to remember flavors and textures and impair its knack for detecting the stomach’s subtle fullness cues   –   the same phenomena that occur when you eat in front of the tube. For more mindful eating, take lunch offline. 

Pace Yourself 

How do you know when you’re 80% full? This is tough to do at the start but once you get going it becomes easy. If you eat a meal and 30minutes to an hour later you feel hungry, you did not eat enough, but if you feel full and not hungry after 4 hours, you ate too much. Use trial and error to adjust your meal size and frequency. The goal isn’t to go completely hungry; it’s to stop eating sooner than you normally would.


Your Challenge

For the next week, put away all the things that you normally distract yourself with while eating. That means no newspapers, magazines, TV or computer. Spend your meal times just eating, preferably with some company. Focus on the food texture and flavor. This practice might help curb the snack attacks later on, and will help you be on your way to a leaner, more satisfied, you.  

Practice eating only until you are 80% full.  You will want to stop eating before you normally would, by putting a little less food on your plate, or saving a couple of bites for later. Another help full tip would be to use smaller plates and utensils. I even had clients start eating with chopsticks.  

Try putting some motivational reminders in a visible place to help remind you of your new habit and to counterbalance all the images of food and overeating that are so prevalent in advertising.

Don’t Forget

Continue with the previous week’s habits:

1. Eat 5 veggies

2. Eat a protein with every meal

3. Exercise 4 times per week

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