How to learn to eat less to lose excess weight?

Learn to distinguish between hunger and appetite

Please note that by constantly “indulging” your appetite, you will definitely overeat and will not be able to lose weight.
The price of such a discharge is extra pounds. Appetite has nothing to do with the real need for food, so you need to be able to distinguish it from hunger:

• Appetite is the desire to eat something, in which you stand in front of the refrigerator and don’t know what you would like. If you feel it earlier than 2-3 hours after your last meal, then it is unlikely to be hunger. You are not hungry physically, but emotionally.
• Hunger is a condition in which you may feel emptiness in your stomach, a feeling of suction, rumbling, cramping. Sometimes dizziness, tremors in the hands, headache, and weakness occur. These are more pronounced signs of hunger, with which the body signals a lack of nutrients. It occurs when you have not eaten for about 4 hours.

How it works?

Let's figure out how the process of suppressing appetite occurs in our body, as well as the normal functioning of metabolism.
The thyroid gland is primarily responsible for this process. She loves foods with iodine, which allow her to maintain the desired balance in her metabolism. If the metabolism is in order, it means that body weight does not increase, because. We also have the task of deceiving our own stomach, which has a direct connection with the “flight center” - the brain. As soon as you are left without work, you immediately get a signal “up”: SOS! Hunger! And the brain orders you to immediately find and eat something to calm the brawler. You can trick your stomach by giving it low-calorie foods that are difficult to digest.

There are also foods, a small amount of which improves mood and reduces appetite due to the production of the “joy hormone” seratonin. You know, these are also simple and well-known products: cheese, cottage cheese, oatmeal, bananas, nuts, as well as legumes - beans, lentils, peas, etc.

Plus – dark chocolate with a high cocoa content. Many nutritionists advise eating 2-3 small pieces of dark chocolate after a working day - in this way you can reduce your appetite to a minimum, and in the evening a light and low-calorie dinner will be enough for you. Chocolate should not be bitten immediately - it is better to suck it for several minutes, like a lollipop, so that the brain receives signals for as long as possible that the body is receiving calories. By the way, we will actually get the required amount of calories, and there are enough nutrients in chocolate.

Don't dwell on emotional problems

Forcing yourself to eat less is especially difficult if food serves as a way of mental release. This eating habit develops under different human conditions. And for each case there is its own way to solve the problem:

How to force yourself to eat less: 13 steps to slimness

When you look at the snow outside the window, it’s hard to believe that spring has come. But she came. A month and a half will pass, and the jubilant sunny April will take off the girls’ coats and fur coats. Miniskirts, slender legs and waists will appear to the world. To feel beautiful, light and athletic, you need to prepare for this wonderful moment now.

Surprisingly, almost all people who are prone to obesity know how to lose from 2 to 6 kilograms in a short time. Still, it’s clear: eat less, drink more and exercise intensively. The only question is how to force yourself to do all this and how to start eating less?

Especially for you, we have prepared a selection of life hacks that will help you curb your appetite. The main rule is don’t neglect the little things. Try using all these tricks, and you will definitely find those that help you.

Drink when you feel hungry.

It is known that following the correct drinking regime reduces appetite, normalizes digestion, and promotes weight loss. But it is water that is needed, not tea or juices. During the day you should drink at least two liters of plain still water, not counting other drinks.

Place a bottle of water on your desk and drink a glass every hour. If you forget, set reminders on your smartphone. Drink a full glass half an hour before meals and immediately after meals. Drink whenever you change location: go to the printer - drink a glass of water.

To make the water seem more attractive and not get boring, you can add pre-frozen slices of lemon, lime and orange to it at home.

Find out what temperature water you prefer to drink. Perhaps you like hot water better than cold water.

Only delicious food.

Diet food is often associated with deprivation. Eating it is tasteless, which is why it is so easy to have a food breakdown and fill yourself up with delicacies. Give up tasteless food! If you don't like oatmeal or cottage cheese, don't eat it! You can always find something you like among low-calorie foods. Use a little spices, vinegar, mustard, pan-Asian low-calorie sauces - make your food tastier. It should bring pleasure!

Eat often.

This simple technique prevents you from feeling completely hungry and sweeping away everything you can reach from the table at lunch. You need to eat five to six times a day, but in very small portions - 150-200 grams per meal. Then you remember what you recently ate and feel less deprived. In addition, you pamper yourself with taste more often, which means you are less sad.

It is better to take the last meal 3-3.5 hours before bedtime. If you ate at six and go to bed at one, then at eleven o’clock you feel so hungry that night raids on the refrigerator are inevitable.

Nutritionists say that to successfully lose weight, you need 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every day. And not just at any time, but precisely in the dark, when the hormones necessary for this are produced.

Small plate.

Psychologists have found that after eating a full plate, people feel more satisfied. At the same time, the size of the plate is not decisive. Use this trick! Eat a full plate, but use the smallest one. It’s also better to take a teaspoon or at least a dessert spoon. Then your brain will note that the number of spoons eaten was significant and transmit a feeling of fullness!

Blue color.

Scientists have found that a person's color environment while eating affects his appetite. Thus, warm tones make you want to eat, while cold colors reduce your appetite. The strongest effect is produced by blue color. Don't neglect this knowledge! If you can’t paint the walls and furniture blue, then at least lay out an ultramarine tablecloth, place cornflower blue dishes, and hang bright blue curtains.

Eat slowly.

Eat mindfully, savoring every bite. This is how we tell the satiety centers that we ate for a long time and with pleasure, which means we have eaten enough. Try to look at and smell the food before you put it in your mouth. This increases awareness of the process.

American scientists have found that there are odors that, all other things being equal, accelerate weight loss by a third. Everything is simple and accessible: it turned out to be the smells of mint, apple and banana. You should listen to them thoughtfully before you eat any food.

Take a walk before dinner.

It is believed that walking in the fresh air increases appetite. There is even an expression “work up an appetite.” However, scientists have found that if you walk intensely, at a fast pace, the body is saturated with oxygen and, on the contrary, appetite decreases. This way you can deceive the body: after a walk, even a small portion will seem quite sufficient.

Remove temptations.

Rid the refrigerator and the whole house of those foods that make you lose your willpower at the sight of them. Do not keep cookies, candies, raisins, chips, salted nuts and other foods that are the worst enemies of your waistline in sight. Let puffed bran or carrots cut into strips be in plain sight.

If you came to visit

and participate in a feast, then temptations cannot be avoided. The tactics should be like this. Firstly, try not to come to visit completely hungry. Secondly, immediately put everything you are going to eat on a small plate and move away from the table. Make a promise to yourself not to refill your plate or take anything off the table. Thirdly, to deceive yourself, you can put a bowl of ice cubes in front of you during a long feast and gradually eat them. You can do the same with frozen unsweetened berries or fruits. Frozen fruits cannot be eaten quickly, and you will inevitably stretch out this pleasure for a long time. Let your friends consider this your extravagant feature and prepare for you in advance not cakes with tea, but a small bag of frozen berries.

Snack properly.

For mid-day snacks, dried apricots or prunes, carrots cut into strips, celery stalks, tomatoes, cucumbers or unsweetened apples are suitable. Whenever you want to eat, but it’s not time yet, you can throw airy crispy bran into yourself. They taste good and, with minimal calories, tend to quickly absorb liquid and increase in volume, providing a feeling of satiety.

Good, proper snacks also include low-fat fermented milk drinks, protein shakes or protein bars, which are sold in sports stores.

It's important to always have healthy snacks on hand. This minimizes the risk of breaking out and buying a bun or pie at a stall.

Wonderful supplements.

Very often, when we feel hungry, the body thus signals a lack of some microelements and vitamins. But we don’t understand and load ourselves with anything. Therefore, nutritionists recommend not starting any diet without the support of a vitamin and mineral complex.

For example, an increased need for sweets may mean a lack of chromium in the body. The drug reglucol helps solve this problem, it replenishes the lack of this substance, helps break down fats accumulated by the body and speeds up metabolism.

Without diets and with sweets

A Guide to Intuitive Eating

An obsessive desire to eat chocolate may be a sign of magnesium deficiency. It’s easy to replenish it; all you need to do is pick up and drink a vitamin-mineral complex with magnesium.

Episodes of uncontrollable appetite are often associated with low serotonin levels. Special dietary supplements containing tryptophan or 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), which are the basis for the production of serotonin, will help cope with its deficiency.

Another natural supplement that doctors recommend including in your diet when losing weight is crushed spirulina algae. It successfully compensates for the lack of most vitamins, amino acids, minerals, as well as essential polyunsaturated fatty enzymes. Spirulina normalizes metabolism and successfully fights excess weight.

Don’t go from one extreme to another: don’t brush off hunger pains, but don’t eat them with anything - make up for what your body actually lacks, and the increased appetite will disappear by itself.

Spend money on a nutritionist.

Of course, losing weight is easier with a nutritionist. And even if you know perfectly well what you need to do, go to him anyway! This is surprising, but it is the money spent on specialists that often prevents us from giving up everything halfway and refusing their recommendations. The internal toad is a great thing! In addition, nutritionists say that you cannot enter the same diet twice. Each time you gain weight again, your weight loss recommendations need to be adjusted.

Create your own top lifehacks

. As you lose weight, your determination to stick to a certain diet and exercise routine may gradually weaken. Help yourself! Regularly read motivating articles, communicate with those who support you, go to a psychologist, finally. And be sure to make your own list of tricks that suit you and give the best effect.

Great results for you! May everything work out for you!

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Drink more water

Sometimes a person confuses the feeling of thirst and hunger. To distinguish them, after the desire to eat something, you first need to drink 0.5-1 glass of water and wait 15-20 minutes. If the feeling of hunger has not passed, then you really want to eat. In addition, by drinking a glass of water, you “deceive” the body for a short time.

Hunger will be dulled, and during meals you will be able to start eating less, because your stomach will be partially filled with liquid. In addition to water, kefir and juices help reduce appetite and lose weight:

• banana;
• grapefruit;
• orange.

Considering the glycemic index

Products that resist appetite can be different - vegetables, fish, fruits, and dairy products. They have one thing in common: a low glycemic index. A study by British scientists from Cambridge states that white bread, many cereals and sweets have a high glycemic index, while fruits, most vegetables and dairy products have a low glycemic index. They increase the production of hormones that suppress appetite and send a signal that the body is full.

This was confirmed by the results of a study in which participants ate low-GI foods for breakfast and as a result had 20% higher plasma GLP-1 levels and 38% lower insulin levels compared to those who ate high-GI foods. Note that this is the first study in which experts were able to clearly illustrate the effect of low GI food on the production of GLP-1 and satiety in the body.

Blood sugar levels remain normal when there is enough chromium in the body - the feeling of hunger is reduced. Sources of chromium include wholemeal wheat flour, wheat germ, brewer's yeast, liver, black pepper, lemon balm, and cheese.

Eat small portions, but often

Fractional meals are the best option for learning to eat less and lose weight. When you overeat with little energy expenditure, the body begins to store extra calories as fat. If small portions of food enter the stomach, it will have time to process them. As a result, fat will no longer be stored in reserve, because the body will use the received calories to be processed into energy.

The volume of a single serving is 200-250 g. Never skip your morning meal, because it will help you eat less in the evening. The optimal diet includes:

• breakfast – 8.00;
• second breakfast – 11.00;
• lunch – 14.00;
• afternoon tea – 16.00;
• dinner – 19.00.

No distractions

Surprisingly, TV contributes to obesity. Scientists have found that when watching an interesting film or program, a person gets so carried away that he can unnoticed eat twice the prescribed portion. This also applies to snacks or snacks - they simply disappear in front of the TV.

The harm of television is also that a person spends less time eating. Nutritionists advise eating slowly, prolonging the pleasure. On average, this process should take at least 20 minutes. When watching an interesting movie, you can get through it in 10 minutes, which is bad for the body. If you have dinner or lunch in peace and quiet, then the question of how to learn to eat little will disappear by itself.

Chew food thoroughly

By swallowing food in large pieces, you overload your gastrointestinal tract. As a result, digestion and absorption of nutrients in the intestines deteriorate. In addition, without chewing your food thoroughly, you eat your portion faster. Saturation occurs on average within 20 minutes. During this time, you can eat much more if you don’t “grind” every piece. The benefits of chewing foods thoroughly are as follows:

• Strengthening gums. They increase blood flow, which also ensures the prevention of periodontitis.
• Producing the required amount of saliva. During chewing, it is produced 10 times more than in a calm state. Saliva contains water, vitamins, calcium, magnesium, sodium. Microelements help strengthen tooth enamel and form a protective film on its surface.
• Losing weight. By chewing your food thoroughly, you feel full with less food.
• Reducing the load on the heart. Large pieces of food put pressure on the diaphragm, where the heart muscle is located.

Less food

Daily balanced nutrition at regular intervals makes it possible to gain harmony and lose weight. At the same time, it supports energy, metabolism and regulates blood sugar.

1. Every time you eat, your body burns energy to process what you eat. Regular and small portions will support your metabolism throughout the day, give you an energy boost and you will burn more calories.
2. While eating regularly will require more planning and discipline , it will distribute your calorie intake more evenly throughout the day and eliminate the urge to overeat. In addition, knowing that the next meal is planned in a few hours, you will control your cravings and calmly wait for the next planned meal.

Secrets of a slim figure

Many of us, men and women, are looking for the secrets of being slim, going on a diet, trying...

Useful replacement

Instead of confectionery products, which constantly add fat, sugar and extra calories to us, eat fruits, dried fruits and honey. They contain fructose - it successfully replaces sweets and reduces hunger, and there are much fewer calories than in any usual dessert. Plain clean water or juice reduces appetite well.

It is better to drink mineral water, but not carbonated water. Of course, you need to drink 20-30 minutes before meals; You should not drink after meals - this slows down digestion, as gastric juice is washed away.

Ginger tea helps reduce appetite. Grate the ginger and add 1 tsp. gruel with boiling water (2 cups), infuse and add honey (1 tsp). They drink this tea before meals: appetite decreases, metabolism speeds up, and sexual activity also increases - and from this we definitely become more beautiful.

Your appetite at lunch will decrease significantly if you eat a beauty salad in the morning at least 2-3 times a week. It is prepared simply and quickly: 2 tbsp. oatmeal, 1 tbsp. chopped walnuts, finely chopped half an orange, grated apple mixed with 1 tbsp. honey, pour a glass of low-fat yogurt over everything, stir and leave for 10 minutes.

If you really want to eat, you can eat this unusual sandwich: put a sliced ​​ripe banana on a small piece of black bread. Brown bread contains fiber, and bananas contain a lot of glucose: the stomach will start working, and a signal will be sent to the brain that food has entered the body.

For lunch, eat clear soups - low-fat meat, fish, or even better, vegetable broth. This soup fills the stomach and satiates better and faster than main courses, and it has fewer calories.

You can also have a snack with a piece of low-fat cheese or a boiled egg, and drink green tea with a little honey. Curdled milk, fermented baked milk, kefir and natural yogurt also satisfy your hunger for a long time - you won’t feel like eating for several hours.