Generally speaking we don’t think about how we eat. We picked up ways of eating when we were children and kept eating the same way. There are, however ways of eating that can help you to stay slim.
1. EAT SMALL MOUTFULLS: It’s difficult to really taste the food you’re eating when you are shovelling it in. If you eat more slowly you will be better able to appreciate the individual flavours and textures of the food and you’ll be less likely to over eat. Eating big mouthfuls quickly doesn’t allow your stomach enough time to tell your brain that you’ve had enough to satisfy your hunger, and so you over eat and most probably end up feeling bloated.
Learn to take small bites of food. You’ll not eat as much and you’ll enjoy the experience for longer and in social situations you’ll be able to eat less and not be conspicuous.
2. USE A SMALL UNTENSIL: Some people say, “If I ate with a small utensil I’d have to take twice as many mouthfuls.” If however these people tried eating with a small utensil they’d find they’d eat less and enjoy the experience more.
I always use a small utensil when eating. I eat my cereal with either a teaspoon or a parfait spoon. If I ever have a piece of cake I use a cake fork. Using a small utensil makes the enjoyment of eating a longer experience and as an added bonus I find I feel satisfied with less food. My armoury of a teaspoon, parfait spoon and cake fork works well for me.
3: CHEW MORE: Chew more and you will eat less. A correlation has been found between chewing and the amount of food necessary to switch off the hunger trigger. in short the more chewing you do the less you’ll need to eat to feel satisfied. As a general rule I choose food that requires more chewing. For instance I’d choose a biscuit over a piece of cake or raw vegetables over cooked vegetables.
If you do choose something that cannot be chewed, for example trifle, take a small portion and eat with a small utensil for example a cake fork or a small tea spoon and you’ll be surprised to find how much less trifle you’ll need to eat to feel satisfied.
Try these ways of eating. They work for me!
Hi Janice,
It was lovely to hear you on Radio National. I am a vegetarian and interested in doing body building for health reasons. e.g. high blood pressure at 51! The tablets don’t work for me!! I wonder if you can suggest the best sort of diet/eating plan for a non meat eater that will give me gains and fat loss??
Thanks.
Thank you for your comments. I’m glad you enjoyed my interview. Sadly however I’m not in a position to give you medical advice because I’m not qualified in that area. I think it would be good to find out from those qualified as to what exercise and what diet could help you. What I can say is, be conscious of additives like salt, mayonnaise, sauces etc. These little beauties can surreptitiously cause weight and health problems.
Good Luck
Janice
Ms Janice, could you tell me what the 13 machines are that you work out on please? I am 64 and very encouraged by you. Thank you do much.
Shirley, my 13 machines cover all the major muscle groups. They are two machines for stomach muscles, a hip flex machine, a quad machine, two for chest muscles, and two for back muscles, a leg press, two machines for arms and one for the hamstrings. Ask at your gym and they will suggest machines for these muscle groups and you find which machines suit you the best form them.