If you find that you are never feeling satisfied after a meal or just an hour or so

later you are

reaching for a snack to pick you up? Well, we're here to help with some feel-full
strategies.
Granted there are foods that can boost your feelings of fullness but how, when and
where
you eat your meals can also have a bearing on your full factor too.
Here are 10 ways to keep your dining habits in check to maximise
your feelings of satiety and satisfaction.
 

 (1) Sometimes go it alone                         

                  

People can eat more when they dine in company or with the television on
because they become distracted as to what exactly is going into their mouth.
Make sure mealtimes are all about the food, focus on it entirely and you'll feel full
sooner.
Avoid fast-paced music too, this can increase the speed you eat, resulting in a clean
plate
before your body is able to recognise it is full.
 

(2) Smell and chew

When you eat make sure you give your meal a good sniff as concentrating on the smell
of your food
as well as the taste also switches on satiety signals. Secondly, chew, chew, chew, and
chew some more,
some of the hormones needed to send the satiety signals to the brain are released by
your chomping.
 

(3) Go for bulky and moist

The rationale behind the bulky and moist rule is pretty straightforward, simply the more
air and water in food
the quicker it will fill you up, calorie for calorie. So, in terms of food swaps have a
 vegetable soup rather than
a pasty, plain air-popped popcorn instead of crisps and grapes in place of raisins.
 

(4) Wait after fat

If you do have a meal with a high-fat content then make sure you allow time for that
feeling of fullness to come.
It can take longer for sense of satiety to come from a fatty meal compared to meal high
in protein for example,
so allow time for the feeling of fullness from the fat to kick in.
 

(5) Get enough sleep

When your body is deprived of sleep it produces more ghrelin and less leptin.
These are the hormones that are involved in the regulation of appetite;
ghrelin is produced largely in the stomach and accelerates your appetite,
while leptin decreases appetite as it's the hormone that signals satiety.
 

(6) Get hydrated

The daily recommended amount of water to drink is around the eight glasses mark,
but many of us don't get anywhere near that amount and as a result when we feel
hungry,
it is often because we're actually thirsty. Drink a glass or two of water before a meal,
and when you do eat, the food will feel more filling.
 

(7) Get a smaller plate

People tend to fill their plate however big it is, and most of us eat until it is empty.
And the aim of getting a 'clean plate' makes us more likely to override the satiety signals
that stop us eating.
So, swap your normal plate for a slightly smaller one, and you'll find your 'full' switch
will flip a little faster.
 

(8) Choose fiddly foods

If you eat foods that take a little time and effort to eat, this will allow time for your
body
to recognise the fullness feeling. Good examples of fiddly foods are corn on the cob,
a crunchy salad or fish with bones, these types of foods force you to eat more slowly
and help you to feel full quicker.
 

(9) Eat an apple before each meal

Apples help to promote a feeling of fullness and research has shown that eating an
apple
20 minutes prior to eating a meal reduced the amount of food that was consumed at
 that meal.
So, including an apple for your daily snack will not only contribute to one of your daily
recommended fruit or veggie portions but the fibre will fill up your stomach too.
 

(10) Be natural
Try to eat food that is as natural as possible as most manufactured foods tend to be very
energy-dense
which means they contain more calories bite-for-bite. However raw fruit and vegetables
take a lot of chewing
and occupy a lot of room in your stomach so they fill you up much more per bite.

(Taken from Zubia Kiran : nidokidos@yahoogroups.com)