1. Eat a small portion and then wait 20 minutes before eating more. Last night we ate two portions of chicken and then ran into the kitchen to get two more. That was a big mistake. We should have waited 20 minutes and then decided if we were still hungry. It takes 20 minutes for the hunger triggers to reset, so if you eat too fast you eat more than you need to. If we'd waited I would have realized that I wasn't actually hungry anymore, or that maybe one more chicken instead of two would have been sufficient.
2. Eat the biggest meal in the morning. This is tried and true because it ties in with how our metabolisms move from sleeping to waking and our energies from morning to night. It’s difficult for me to do because I don't particularly enjoy breakfast foods. My trick? Eat backwards. I’ll have the biggest meal (protein and veggies) in the morning around 10am and eat a salad in the afternoon, around 2 or 3pm. Dinner at 7pm is oatmeal or eggs or cereal (not a sugar cereal!) and some a piece of fruit for dessert to clean the palate. Surprise, I’m never hungry and I’ve burned my fuel efficiently throughout the day! Note: waffles and pancakes are never allowed, whether you eat forwards or backwards. Sorry.
3. Eat less. Yes, that’s the simple stupid truth. Duh, how easy! Ugh. It’s not easy. Last week one night I ate two full fish fillets and half a bag of broccoli AND a salad. That was WAY too much. While I was making the food it felt appropriate—fish isn’t very filling, after all, but I could have had the two fish fillets and half the portion of broccoli and no salad and been just as satisfied without the additional 400 calories. Again, look at rule #1: wait 20 minutes to digest before going back for more. And remember that the protein should only be the size of your palm. One fish fillet. Every time you eat is an opportunity to work on eating right.
4. The level of your hunger does not determine how much food you need. It seems like when we're REALLY hungry we eat LOTS more to fill ourselves back up. The body doesn't work like this, though. Hunger is just a trigger, and the trigger goes away when the food strikes it and the chemicals are secreted. You can't re-dunk the clown once he's in the water. If you're REALLY hungry, eat a little first—even if it's just two crackers. Yes, crackers. Consuming those 70 calories should make the trigger go away long enough that you can prepare a sensible-sized meal. Also, as my friend Wendy pointed out, when you think you’re hungry you might actually be THIRSTY. The thirst trigger feels and acts just like the hunger trigger, except it occurs more often. If you feel hungry, try drinking an 8oz glass of water over 2-3 minutes (don’t chug—sip). Chances are you won’t remain hungry when the trigger abates. Test this theory on yourself. It’s actually quite surprising. Keep this in mind when you grocery shop. NEVER shop hungry. Always drink some water before you go into the store. Trust me.
5. Wine is a food. Wine has 100-150 calories per pour, and a pour is 5oz. Each bottle of wine has FIVE glasses in it, NOT FOUR. When Jon and I share a bottle of wine we're consuming as much as 375 calories each. It's like eating that carrot cake all over again. Plus, it slows the metabolism, which is the opposite of what we're trying to do.
6. Ice Cream is Pure Weight. A pint of Ben & Jerry's is easy to eat in one sitting because it's so small, but its actual serving size is set for four per container and each serving is 250-300 calories. If you want to eat Ben & Jerry's for dessert, that's fine (I suppose) (not really), but instead of sharing a pint as one dessert for two you need to learn to stretch it to at least two days, maybe even three. Think of it as "continuing the joy." A single delicious sundae with the whipped cream and the hot fudge will set you back 1000 calories of progress, or two full days. Even if you discard the cherry. If you have to have the sundae, learn to enjoy the kiddie-size. It's cheaper and it WILL make you just as happy. Your tongue is what you're satisfying with these foods and nothing else. The tongue only has two 'emotions' happy or unhappy. There is no mid-range; there is no ambivalence with the tongue. It will be happy with ten coatings of sugary cream. It doesn't need twenty to be any happier.
7. Portions are Proportions. The bigger the portion the higher you're making the mountain you're trying to climb and the more difficult it will become to reach the summit. If you want the ice cream, eat half and put salt on the rest. If you want the wine, drink 1/2 a glass. Eat on smaller plates. Eat in smaller bowls. Eat with smaller utensils to it takes more time to eat, hitting that hunger trigger sooner.
8. Plan your snacks. Snacking is the most difficult thing to avoid, but planned snacking reduces guilt and calories. KNOW that you WILL snack, but make your choices accordingly. Purchase berries and have them at the ready. Atkin's bars ARE candy bars. See the soda ingredients in my other posting, and triple them for Atkin’s bars. It's scary, weird, crazy stuff. It's better to eat a smaller piece of genuine dark chocolate now and then to get over a sweet craving. Trader Joe's 73% dark chocolate bars are 40 calories for a quarter of a bar, but you can train yourself to be satisfied eating that, since it's truly about the wonderful taste of things anyway. Andy Warhol's spit-out-the-chocolate-after-you’ve-tasted-it is a good trick, albeit a little gross...
9. Fat has double the calories of carbs or proteins. DOUBLE. Like burgers? Make turkey burgers. Like fries? Bake them, don't fry them. Beware low-fat substitutes, though. They only add other creepy chemicals to make up for the fat. Instead find real foods that don't contain the same fat content. Like turkey or soy instead of beef.
10. Don't Freak Out About Labels. We used to look at the carb count on everything. Then we looked at the sugar count on everything. Then we looked at the fat count on everything. What's the protein count? Fiber? Cholesterol? It's all important but it's also all confusing because we make ourselves see what we want to see. We can compare two foods and pick the "better" one, but does that mean it's still good for us? We have to train ourselves to finding our new favorite better foods, sticking to the outside margins of the market and avoiding the interior preservative-laden shelves as best we can. In the end, look at the CALORIES and look at the INGREDIENTS. Carbs and fats can vary depending on whatever scary chemicals are being used to get those numbers where the manufacturer thinks the consumer wants it to be. Seek out WHOLE ingredients, not chemical substitutes, and use www.caloriecount.com to look up how much fuel you're really putting into your tank.
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