So, skipping all the first post hijinks.
I sometimes get hungry quickly after eating, even if I was stuffed to the gills. Every time that I read about dieting, weight loss, and eating healthy, they offer foods to combat this: fiber, lettuce, carrots, soups, ect. The problem is that nearly all of their ideas are things which I would have to consume insane quantities of just to kill the hunger pangs; let alone remain satisfied. The only suggestion that might help is more protien. Still iffy since some of the protiens that are commonly suggested, also leave me hungry for more. Mayhaps, I'm low on certain vitamins/minerals, need to better balance my diet, or have an underlying medical condition. I do not know, but I mostly chalk it up to everyone is different.
Now, the good news, I HAVE noticed little things over the years that do work for me. Most of them are more about conditioning than nutrition. By melding together what I know works for me with some common diet rules, I would like to create something more akin to a diet routine than a typical diet. [Gotta note here that a diet is just what you consume. Everyone is always on a diet. I'm just using the commonly accepted usage of it for the subset of healthy diets or low calorie or the like.]
Being money conscious from a young age, I developed strategies to get the most bang for my buck when eating out. Many are still in effect to this day out of habit or frugality. One is that I never buy salad at a restaurant. Why? They do not fill me up in the slightest and are ridiculously expensive. Not a good bang for my buck. I mention it because lettuce is one of those foods commonly listed as filling. Another more useful example is that I would always drink my beverage AFTER the meal and never before, because I would have less room for food. It is such a long standing habit that drinking after a meal seems to signal my stomach that the meal is over. So, if I drink water before a meal, it will reduce the amount of food I eat, and if I drink water afterwards, my stomach will not expect more. There is the added bonus of increasing my water intake which is said to be good for you.
There are some food triggers that I have also noticed. For instance, if I'm hungry and I drink dark pop then the hunger will abate for a surprisingly long time. Very useful when food is not an option but not particularly healthy. A better example is dessert. Yes, evil, evil dessert. From far too many school lunches, eating something sweet after a meal (as simple as a cookie) signals the end of the meal to my stomach as well. This is a far more immediate effect than waiting for my stomach to signal fullness on its own.
The most recent thing that I realized and probably the most relatable to a larger demographic is that I eat for pleasure. This may not seem like an epiphany, but it is. I buy/cook food that I love and then want to eat more than necessary because it is soo tasty. Therein lies the lynch pin of my plan. If I eat food which I do not love, then I am more easily satisfied. I am not talking about forcing myself to eat food that I dislike just things from ambivalent to like.
Lastly, I would like to adopt the frequent, small meals strategy. This would allow me to assure myself that I do not need to stuff myself since I will be eating again soon and help alleviate those hunger pangs. Bonus points for even more water consumption!
P.S. Brushing ones teeth after meals would also help prevent snacking and improve dental health. I love two for one strategies.
