Healthy Tuesday - Feel Full Longer

Sounds good, eh? The less you feel hungry, the less you will want to eat. But how do you do that? I guess you could go and get hypnotized, pray that the guy doesn't have you acting like a chicken (or worse) while you are "under" and have him tell your subconscious that you loathe chocolate. Or, you could do make these three, less-risky changes to your diet.

Increase Protein

When you think protein, you probably think of a big ole mouth-watering steak. Yeah, me too. But we have all heard the warnings about too much red meat causing high cholesterol. So, how do you increase protein without increasing your cholesterol?

• Think lean. Lean means 10% or less fat. So you can have the ground hamburger, but opt for the sirloin which is 10% fat. Get chicken, but get the white meat cuts. Ground Turkey is another great choice, but again, look for the 10% or less fat and make sure it is ground WHITE MEAT - or better yet, breast meat.
• Think eggs - the whites that is. Just like the red meat, the yolk of the egg is higher in fat and can elevate your cholesterol. So when you cook with eggs, try to increase the number of eggs you eat, but eliminate the yolks.
• Scrambled eggs for breakfast, use 4 egg whites, but only one of the yolks (or no yolks would be even better).
• If you are having mostly carbs (oatmeal, cereal, toast) for breakfast, also have a boiled egg (white only).
• Think beans. That's right. Beans are a protein. Now I know what you're thinking and I know what beans do to you. Beans do that to all of us. My Grandma used to sing a little song (maybe yours did, too), "Beans, beans, the magic fruit. The more you eat, the more you toot!"  I need a minute to regroup. I can't stop laughing remembering my Grandma singing that!
  
  Ok.
  
  But yes, beans are a wonderful way to not only increase the protein you eat, but also the fiber. Which takes me to my second point.

Increase Fiber

Adult women are supposed to get about 25 grams of fiber a day (click here for more information). I'd bet that you don't get anywhere near that number. I know that I had to make a lot of adjustments to my diet in order to reach this number. 

• Cook with brown rice and whole wheat pasta. If you can't make the switch to brown rice, try the long grain rice. It is still nice and fluffy, but will take longer to breakdown in your body (therefore, keeping you full longer).
• Eat cereal. Now that doesn't mean go out and get a box of Fruit Loops. Choose cereals that are low in sugar, dye, fat, chemicals (high fructose corn syrup) and high in fiber.
• Bake / cook with whole wheat flour. Now this is a lot denser than the all purpose flour, so you might want to use baby steps with your favorite recipes. Typically, you should be safe using half AP flour and half whole wheat.

Increase Water

I can't say it enough. Drink more water. It will fill up that stomach and take away the craving for food.