The Art of Eating

Are you already losing weight on The Full Plate Diet? Are you worried you will gain the pounds back? Here are some practical tips that will help turn your diet into a way of living. Start with the first tip and add a new one each day – at the end of a week you’ll be looking like a slim person and eating like one too.

• Think differently about hunger. Consider the feeling of mild hunger as a desirable condition (rather than an emergency). This is when your body is burning fat and you are accomplishing your goal!
• Fill your plate with half the food you think you may need. If you are really still hungry after eating your first plate, wait 10 minutes to give your body time to begin digestion and let your brain know you are full before getting seconds.
• Chew slowly and stop eating when the hungry feeling stops. The time to stop is well before you feel “full” or “stuffed.” The goal of eating isn’t to feel miserable afterwards.  Take time to savor your dining experience. 
• Try not to eat like it is your last meal. Even if you don’t know when you will eat again, overeating at a meal means your body will store up fat.  
• Leave that “one last bite” on your plate. It is better to let the food go to waste outside your body rather than stored on the inside. Any food eaten beyond what you body needs will become fat.
• Focus on eating. Multi-tasking leads to overeating. Try not to eat while driving, reading, talking on the phone, working, watching TV or while at the movies. You’ll not only enjoy your food more, but you will eat less of it.
• Don’t eat within 4 hours of bedtime. Food gives us the energy we need to be active during the day. You don’t need energy intake right before you go to sleep. If you take in energy that you don’t need or use, it will be stored as fat.

The author submits this blog posting as a health educator and not in any other capacity. You should seek the advice of your physician regarding a personal health condition or before undertaking any diet, exercise, or other health program.