Fresh Start Eating Habit Advice

When you're dieting, a growling tummy is like a wedding toast: The longer it lasts, the more dangerous it gets. But your hormones, not your gut, are really to blame for most binges. Ghrelin, which makes you hungry, and leptin, your primary appetite suppressor, are eternally battling it out. Preventing these hormones from going haywire is the key to reining in calories without always feeling ravenous.

Skip soft drinks

High-fructose corn syrup, the main sweetener in soda, doesn't spur insulin production to make the body process calories, nor does it trigger leptin, the hormone that tamps down appetite.

Trade your corkscrew for a bottle opener

Participants in one study ate more food while drinking wine than while drinking beer.

Shape up

Wedge-shaped foods like pizza make it difficult to estimate proper portions. (No wonder the apple pie always goes so fast.)

Pack a packet

Instant oatmeal beats out All Bran and Muesli for fullness factor. We love Quaker's Weight Control Maple and Brown Sugar--it tastes heavenly and has more fiber, protein, and whole grains than the regular variety.

Find a new china pattern

Research shows that blue is a natural appetite suppressant, so using blue plates, napkins, or placemats may make you eat more slowly and realize when you're full.

Re-paint your dining room beige

Red, yellow, and orange hues stimulate appetite and make you eat more.

Dig pop culture

Because it's mostly air, popcorn is twice as filling as a candy bar or peanuts, with fewer calories. We like Pop Secret 100-calorie packs.

Be antisocial

On average, people who eat with one other person consume about 35 percent more than when they dine alone; at a table of four, that figure rises to 75 percent more; if you're in a party of eight you'll nearly double your intake.

Ignore diet labels

One study found that after eating full-fat muffins, subjects were less hungry and ate less over the next 24 hours than after eating a fat-free version.

Find berry treasure

Raspberries are one of the most fiber-filled fruits, packing 8 grams into a cupful--a whopping 32 percent of your RDA. Add some to your cereal or yogurt.

Hold your breath

Just smelling a fresh-baked cupcake in the break room can induce the insulin secretion that makes you think you're hungry. Sight activates the appetite snowball too, so avert your eyes.

Make a dinner date

A study found that women eat less than usual on dates (men tend to eat a lot more). But don't eat by candlelight, dim light can trigger binge eating. Better yet, make it a blind date

It's worth a try--dine blindfolded and you'll eat 22 percent less food without missing it. Just watch out for the salad fork.

Down a multivitamin

Research suggests that your body may compensate for a lack of nutrients by increasing your appetite so you'll eat more.

Save your bread

Dodge the white wonder and go for whole wheat--it's 5.5 times more satisfying.

Make some miso

When your metabolism is dragging and your energy dips, you crave foods and drinks that give you a quick lift. New research reveals that protein-rich miso soup boosts metabolism.

Boost your bean count

The musical fruit's high fiber content causes glucose to be released slowly into the bloodstream, preventing the sudden slumps that cause hunger spikes. Add garbanzos or black beans to soup or salad.

Go cuckoo for cocoa

Participants in one study were significantly more satisfied 30 minutes after they drank low-fat chocolate milk than they were after they drank soda.

Bulk up

Soluble fiber expands in your GI tract to make you feel full, so get your 25-gram RDA. That's a packet of oatmeal, two slices of whole-wheat bread, and 1 cup each of broccoli, edamame, and raw carrots.

Live in your own private Idaho

If you need starches, yams and white potatoes (with skin) are 7 times more filling than a croissant. Sorry, French fries don't count.

Request a doggy bag

Wrap up half your meal to go before you take the first bite and you're likely to eat less. Study participants who were offered a portion and a half of a food consumed 43 percent more of it and ate 25 percent more calories in the meal overall.

Add avocado

Your body burns carbohydrates in an hour or two, so toss a little healthy fat into the mix (avocado in salad, peanut butter on bread) to buy a few hours before the pangs hit.

Choose surf over turf

Fish is more satisfying, per calorie, than lean beef or chicken, according to Dr. Susanna Holt's Satiety Index, a ranking of different foods' ability to satisfy hunger.

Eat like a cow

Graze: Five evenly spaced, 350-calorie mini-meals a day will regulate your appetite and ward off sugar cravings caused by skipping meals.

Have a cocktail with lunch

Fruit cocktail, that is. Mixed fruit can curb a sweet tooth, and it has plenty of fiber, which helps regulate your blood sugar.

Eject the junk

Science has proven that a food's tasty appearance can trump feelings of fullness. Ask the waiter to remove your plate before you scarf the rest of those fluffy mashed potatoes

 

Attempt ambidexterity

Switch your fork to your nondominant hand--you'll eat much more slowly. That gives you time to recognize your couldn't-eat-another-bite feeling when it first sets in.

Get nutty

Nosh on pine nuts--they have the most protein of any nut or seed, and the pinolenic acid they contain stimulates two powerful hunger-suppressing hormones.

Turn up the heat

Temperature is a satiety signal, and the cooler a room, the more people tend to eat--which is why restaurants often keep thermostats low.

Count sheep

Sleep-deprivation leads to lower leptin levels and higher ghrelin levels, boosting your appetite. Try to get at least 7 hours tonight.

Go beyond the pale

White pasta and other foods made with refined flour cause blood sugar to drop and leave you hungry again in no time. Choose whole-wheat pasta and you'll be satisfied almost twice as long.

Can the juice

Whole fruit has higher fiber content and makes you feel fuller than fruit juices, even those with pulp.

Enjoy your salad days

According to one study, women who ate a 100-calorie salad before dinner consumed 12 percent fewer calories during the meal without trying to diet or limit their intake. The fiber in the greens probably helped.

Bag the dried fruit

Go for 2 cups of grapes over a quarter cup of raisins--both are 100 calories, but the grapes' water content feels more filling.

Start with soup

Have a cup of soup, such as chicken noodle or vegetable, before your entrée--you'll feel fuller sooner and eat fewer calories overall.

Crunch on raw carrots

Researchers in Ireland noted that carrots are more filling when they're uncooked. Bonus: A 1-cup serving has 3.6 grams of fiber.

Slurp a smoothie

Make it with low-fat yogurt and loads of fruit for a satiety trifecta: protein (to decrease hunger), fiber (to fill you up without extra calories), and calcium (to help burn, not store, fat).

Start a pack-a-day habit (NOT CIGARETTES!)

Chewing gum (sugar-free or regular) suppresses your desire for sweets. (If you prefer potato chips, spit out the gum--it may make a salty craving worse.)

Don't Starve Yourself

"Don't skip breakfast just because you feel you might have blown it on the weekend," says Barbara Moore, PhD and spokeswoman for Shape up America, a non-profit dedicated to providing healthy weight management information. Shape Up America's "Shape Up and Drop 10" program recommends starting the day with a filling, low-calorie breakfasts like a bowl of oatmeal or cereal that has 150 calories and no less than 4 grams dietary fiber per serving paired with skim milk and fruit, instead of juice, for added fiber so you'll feel fuller on fewer calories.

 

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