Thanks to these tips you can eat normally and maintain your weight

#tips #eat #maintain #weight

6 mei 2024

Do you want to stay in shape, but not have to count calories non-stop? Easy: thanks to these very simple tips you can eat normally and maintain your weight.

1. Fiber filling

And the best part: you can add them to any meal. Muesli, oatmeal and whole wheat bread are ideal for breakfast or lunch. Supplement this with two portions of fruit in between, a handful of nuts or student oats and have a generous portion of vegetables and legumes with your evening meal.

2. Orange over smoothie

Did you know that solid, hard foods (like nuts and raw carrots) make you feel full more quickly than something liquid like juice or puree? The same goes for fruit. Try it yourself and see how full you are after eating three oranges. You can consume the same amount of oranges as a smoothie almost without noticing. The University of Leeds has even scientifically investigated this. Professor Anwesha Sarkar: “By just changing the texture of foods, you feel full faster.”

3. Water, water and more water

The Nutrition Center recommends drinking between one and a half and two liters of water every day. And that is not only important to maintain your fluid balance, it also dampens your hunger pangs. Very handy if you feel like snacking and are just about to tear open a bag of chips. Go ahead, chug down a glass of water and you’ll immediately lose your appetite. Also a good one: start the day with a glass of water as standard and make it a habit to put a jug on the table while eating.

4. Take. You. Time

Don’t gulp everything down like you have to catch a train. According to nutritional scientists, it takes an average of twenty minutes for your stomach to signal to your brain that you have eaten enough. Do you eat quietly? This gives your stomach enough time to warn your brain.

5. Don’t be afraid of fats

But the healthy version: unsaturated fats. These are known as good fats, because they lower the cholesterol level in your blood and also ensure that digestion takes longer and you feel full for longer. Therefore, try to replace saturated fats (found in products such as meat, dairy products, cakes, pastries and chips) with unsaturated fats. You can find these in vegetable oils and in products made from them, such as spreadable margarine, low-fat margarine and liquid baking and frying products. You can also get them from nuts and oily fish.

6. A protein-rich meal is part of it

Protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, chicken, eggs, nuts and cottage cheese give you a feeling of fullness quickly. It takes your body more time to digest proteins than, for example, sugars. Are you sure you are getting enough? Then add a protein source to every meal. Boost your breakfast with a bowl of cottage cheese, pimp your salad in the afternoon with pieces of smoked chicken and feta and always provide a piece of meat, fish or a substitute such as bean curd, tofu or legumes in the evening.

7. That’s how important sleep is

Donuts, fries or a bar of chocolate: if you don’t sleep well one night, there is a good chance that you will feel like snacking the next day. Researcher Thorsten Kahnt from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine explains: “Are you suffering from sleep deprivation? Then the necessary brain areas do not receive enough information. This causes you to overcompensate by choosing food with a richer energy signal.”

More notable facts:

• If, as an adult, you sleep five hours or less, you are one and a half times more likely to become fat than someone who sleeps eight hours.
• If your sleep-wake rhythm is messy for seven to eight days, there is already a measurable disruption of your metabolism.

Text: Malu Pesulima
Foto: Getty Images

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