It’s important to know how to make your meals more satisfying. You don’t want to be hungry and unsatisfied when you are trying to lose weight. Besides being unpleasant, it will trigger your body’s famine survival mechanism and this will usually defeat your plans to lose weight. A good diet puts your body into fat-burning mode and let’s you eat all the food you want.

Eliminating foods that do not satisfy your hunger is how to make your meals more satisfying. The easiest and most effective way to food satisfaction and weight loss is to cut out sugar and reduce high glycemic load carbohydrates from your diet. High glycemic load carbs convert to sugar very quickly and cause massive insulin spikes.

These foods stimulate insulin production and will also boost fat storage in your body. When you eat foods that reduce insulin production, the opposite happens and your body will start burning fat instead of carbs.

As an added benefit you will feel full and more satisfied from your meals. This will help you reduce your total calorie intake – and we all know that this is really the only way to lose weight long term.

How It Works

We are reducing our intake of high glycemic carbohydrates and replacing them with protein and fat. Proteins are made of amino acids and are the main building blocks of your body.

The best sources of quality protein are meat, fish, eggs and dairy. Proteins helps you lose weight by boosting your metabolic rate and they will also help reduce your appetite.

[1]

A higher protein intake also helps build and preserve muscle mass which in turn will burn a small amount of extra calories around the clock.

According to recent studies, a balanced approach (low-glycemic load) is the best choice for weight loss.[2] This means you should be getting your of calories from equal amounts of carbs, protein and fat.

Most of us are consuming too many carbs and not enough protein. On a typical diet of 2000 to 3000 calories per day, you should be eating about 150 – 225 grams of protein every day. If you count calories, you can make the calculation by multiplying your calorie intake by 0.075.

Protein Helps You Gain Muscle and Strength

Your muscles are mostly made up of protein. As with most tissues, they are constantly being broken down and rebuilt.

The best sources of protein are meats, fish, eggs and dairy products. These foods have all the essential amino acids that your body needs. Good plant-based sources are quinoa, legumes and nuts.

Unlike carbohydrates, you don’t need to worry about your protein intake. You can simply eat what you want with your meals to bring your intake into an optimal range.

How Much is One Gram of Protein

People are often concerned that they might be eating too much protein. After all, 150 grams of steak is less than six ounces. That’s not a big steak! But we’re talking about grams of macronutrient, not grams of the food that contains the macronutrient. There’s a big difference!

An 8 steak only contains about 60 grams of actual protein. A large egg has about 6 grams of protein even though it weighs about 40 grams. When you consider that a 12 oz steak only provides about 120 grams of protein, you can see that many people are not eating enough protein!

Sources of Protein

  • Meats – beef, chicken, pork, lamb
  • Fish – Tuna, salmon, sardines, trout, shrimps, lobsters
  • Seafood – Shrimp, lobster, crab, scallops
  • Eggs – Omega-3 enriched or from pastured hens are best
  • Plant based – Quinoa, chia seeds, beans

How To Make Your Meals More Satisfying

Don’t be afraid to load up your plate with low-glycemic vegetables. You can eat massive amounts of them without ever consuming too many carbohydrates. I always prepare two or three different types of vegetables with my main meal. Try cooking them different ways to add a little spice and color to the plate.

It’s important that you not let yourself get hungry when you want to lose weight. If you are constantly craving more food, you will have a hard time sticking with your diet. And that’s the main reason most diets fail; the average person has a hard time sticking with a diet for even one whole year!

Try choosing vegetables of different colors and occasionally add toppings, like a good cheese, to provide variety. It’s tasty and it will add more fat and protein to your diet.

Recap: Try to include a bit of protein, fat and low-glycemic vegetables in each meal. It’s best if you buy grass-fed or pastured meats. They contain more omega 3 fats which are better for you.

 

Counting Calories and Portion Control

You don’t need to worry about calories or portion sizes as long as you are eating the right foods. Eat fresh foods, cut out the sugar and eat low-glycemic carbohydrates.

You can expect to lose at least 3-5 pounds of weight in the first week of this diet and you will continue to lose weight until you reach your target weight.

If you’re used to eating mostly carbohydrates, you can expect to feel a bit odd at first. However, it will only take a few days for your body to adjust to the diet and you will begin to burn a different fuel – fat.

Most people feel much better once they adjust. It can take two to three weeks for your body to make a complete switch to the new fuel. You will automatically feel more energetic and lighter on your feet as you shed pounds.

Calorie counting diets that have you reducing portions and eating unwholesome foods are all bound to fail in the long run. Besides, it’s not a lot of fun to have to watch how much you eat.

Get Easy, Lean and Healthy by eating good food till you’re full and lose a ton of fat while you’re at it!

 

 

[1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18448177

[2] http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1199154