110312 Keeping the weight off by eating more

110312 Keeping the weight off by eating more

Well here we are, nearly at the end of March, still struggling to keep up with our New Year’s resolution to lose weight. If it is not going too well, perhaps you need to change your plan of attack. Most adults know food volume plays a critical part in controlling hunger pangs. This is because the stretch receptors in the stomach largely control the feelings of satiety.

Therefore if you eat large amounts of healthy foods that are also low calorie in the stomach receptors are going to turn off the hunger sensations. This is something that is not going to happen when you are eating snacks, high fat or fried food. Unless of course you are really eating a bunch of this unhealthy stuff.

Thus, the answer to the question of filling your stomach begins with not filling it with calories.

For example, take two identical twins, each of them has the exact same stomach but with different contents. Twin number one has 400 calories of a great tasting candy bar. Twin number two has 400 calories of a salad on board.

Now we all know, having eaten candy bars, that one candy bar is not going to fill our stomach up. Even though our stomach is not full, we still have eaten 400 calories, which means there is an awful lot of spare space down there waiting to get filled up. Twin number two, the good twin, has a stomach full of salad and the stretch receptors are saying “I am full”.

At this point, which twin would you rather be?

Which one is going to reduce their weight and move forward with their New Year’s resolution of losing useless fat?

The moral to this story is to eat 2 to 3 servings of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and other healthy bulky foods at every meal, preferably before the main course shows up on the table.