We all get those days where we feel hungrier than usual and that is entirely normal. However, one issue frequently encountered with my clients is the sentiment of 'never feeling full'. Many of the people I worked with expressed that they never felt full or satisfied after eating. Below are some of the most useful tips and methods I found and which helped my clients obtain nourishment and feel full. If you would benefit from further advice or are struggling with eating and nutrition, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you work with another nutritionists, make sure they are registered with a professional body like the AfN to ensure they are reliable and qualified.
1. Ensure meals and snacks are balanced
Ensuring the meals and snacks you consume are balanced means they will be full of the right nutrients and macros and minerals to keep you full and nourished. Many people will consumer high salt, fat and sugar foods which is understandable as these tend to be the easiest to prepare and cheapest. However, they often offer a lower nutrient quality and spike energy levels, making people feel hungry again soon after eating. If instead we have meals and snacks that follow the Eatwell Guide group and contain vitamins, proteins, fats and carbohydrates we will be sure to stay full and nourished for longer period. The Eatwell Guide was created to help people understand what food groups they were consuming. The guide is split into five sections, each representing a food group: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, dairy and fruits and vegetables.
We can use these five food groups and the guide to begin creating our meals and snacks. A third of our plate should consist of carbohydrates (things like bread, rice and pasta). Carbohydrates are responsible for providing us with energy . If you pick wholemeal versions like brown/wholemeal bread, seeded wraps and brown rice, these have extra fibre which can help keep you full for longer. Many diet fads will try and steer you away from carbohydrates. When I have worked with clients who have tried these diets, they tend to feel extremely hungry soon after eating. Carbohydrates keep our brain fuelled, body energised and can help us feel full over longer periods of time, so make sure you keep full on them!
The next third of your plate should consist of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables provide us with essential vitamins and minerals and are a source of fibre, again helping our digestion and allowing us to feel full. Try and eat a variety a day, for example if you have an apple for breakfast pick another fruit for lunch or as a snack.
The final third of your plate should be divided between protein and dairy. Protein is needed for muscle growth and repair, while calcium is important to build and keep our bones and muscles strong. Protein includes meat, fish, tofu and beans. Dairy sources include milk, yoghurt and cheese.
The final section of the guide is oils and spreads which take up a tiny portion of our diet. They contain fatty acids which our bodies cannot make themselves. We only need around 2-3tbsp per day and we can add them to our meals through the cooking process or after, for example adding a thin layer of butter to toast. When choosing oils and spreads try opt for unsaturated options likes olive oil.
Now you can begin to build your meals and snacks using this plate and Eatwell guide methodology. For example, as a dinner you can have brown rice filling half your plate, a side salad on the other third, a piece of salmon with some teriyaki sauce on the side and a yoghurt as a snack. Your snacks should follow the same pattern, but don't worry about including all the groups in one snack, just try to have as much variety in the day as possible. For example, crackers with tomatoes and cheese or yoghurt with raisins and some nut butter. Remember, sugary foods or foods with salt and fat are ok ever once in a while but overall, day-to-day, try and have a balance. If you are craving sugary, fatty or salty foods, try adding other food groups to the dish to give you more nourishment. For example, hummus with crisps or instead of 3 biscuits have one with some fruit and yoghurt.
2. Correct Portion Sizes A reason why you might be feeling hungry soon after eating may be because you did not have enough during your meal or snack. As well as ensuring balanced meals, we need to make sure we are having the right portion size of each food group for our age. A quick way to use this is by using your hands - remember to use your own hands as portion sizes are relative. This amazing guide below is from the British Heart Foundation and shows hand portion sizes for each food group. You can also find weight measures and more information on portion size on their website, click here!
3. Mealtime Routines Having predictable meal and snack times can help those of us who are constantly seeking out food. It helps regulate our hunger cues and establishes good mealtime routines However, please note that if you are occasionally hungry outside of your usual eating times, acknowledge these hunger cues too. It is recommended to have 3 full meals a day and 2-3 snacks spaced roughly 2 hours before and after meals. Remember this is simply a starting point for those of you with irregular meal and snacking routines. If you find you are not hungry, are occasionally hungry outside of usual eating times or have days where you cannot follow an eating routine this is entirely normal. Simply ensure you follow your hunger cues and try to stick to the recommended meal and snacks a day.
4. Environment Our environment ties into our mealtime routine and can affect how we eat. It can be helpful to reflect on the environment where you typically eat and the general food environment around you. For example, are people frequently offering you food, do you have access to balanced snacks and meal ingredients, do you typically eat at a table or in front of the TV, do you eat when hungry or bored? Answering these types of questions can be a useful place to start thinking about how you eat and if you need to alter the environment around you. Sometimes we might not be hungry but because food is available we find ourselves eating. Perhaps we are hungry but do not have nourishing food around us leading us to start snacking more instead. Knowing our environment and eating practices can allow us to start making the changes we need.
5. Mindful Eating The basic principle of mindful eating is an ability to appreciate our food, build a positive relationship with food and realise what and how much we are eating. It also helps us understand our hunger and fullness cues better. Tuning into these cues and tuning into yourself while you are eating can improve our fullness and enjoyment of meals. To start your journey into mindful eating, hunger cues can be a useful beginning. I like to use an existing notion of 'stomach versus brain hunger'. When we are seeking food, this idea allows us to consider if we are truly seeking food and nourishment for our stomach and bodies or if we are simply looking for an activity. The chart below can help you visualise this idea and you can use it to recognise what kind of hunger cue you are fulfilling in times of eating and hunger sensations. It is a long process; however, once we begin to tune into stomach hunger better, we will be able to eliminate or reduce those moments when we eat out of boredom and other emotions.
Another way to encourage mindfulness and help you regulate you fullness is to think about how you are eating. Do you eat very quickly or with distractions? Try taking a bite of your food, putting down your utensils and not filling your fork or eating another mouthful until your first is finished. This can help you slow down your eating and better realise how much and what you are eating. If you eat with distractions like phones and TVs, it is also a good idea to try and remove these. When we are distracted, we often don not realise how much we have eaten and our mind does not feel like it has been fed. Try remove distractions, eat in a relaxing room, perhaps with some music in the background and at a designated eating space too. Just as it is for adults, mindful eating is also an essential practice for children too. It encourages them to think, talk and understand what they eat. It teaches them good mealtime practices too and can help them build a positive relationship with food from an early age. It is important that if you live with others that everyone in the family starts modelling this positive, mindful eating behaviour. Take changes slowly and remember to all be in it together.
I hope you find this post useful, as mentioned above do not rush in and make all these changes at once. Try one change or pick a day that suits you to trial out one of the tips above like balanced snacks. Finally, if you have a set-back, practice self-love and forgiveness. We all have good and bad days. Do not feel like you need to punish yourself; we are all on this learning journey together!
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