Part 6: Dieting Tips, Techniques for Feeling Full, and Staple Food Preparation Methods for Weight Loss

Things to note when dieting to lose weight

(1) Do not keep yourself in a state of hunger, otherwise you will unconsciously increase your food intake when eating.

To eliminate the feeling of hunger, we can eat some low-calorie foods.

(2) Drinking eight glasses of water a day can help eliminate toxins from the body, and water can fill the stomach and reduce appetite.

(3) Maintain a moderate amount of exercise every day in order to improve the body's metabolic function and consume the fat accumulated in the body.

(4) Eat enough vegetables to replace other high-calorie carbohydrates.

(5) Avoid reading, watching TV or other activities that may distract you while eating, so as not to increase your food intake without realizing it.

(6) Eat some low-calorie food or a bowl of clear soup 20 minutes before a main meal to fill your stomach. This can trigger a signal that you are not hungry and reduce the amount of food you eat during the main meal.

(7) Always prepare some low-calorie snacks so that you can eat them when needed and not feel hungry.

(8) Avoid drinking alcohol. Alcohol can be immediately converted into sugar in the body and enter the bloodstream, especially on an empty stomach.

In addition, alcohol can hinder the burning of fat in the body, making it difficult to eliminate fat.

(9) Carefully read the labels on food to know the calorie content of each serving in order to control your food intake and maintain your weight.

(10) Before going to the market to buy food, eat some low-calorie foods to eliminate hunger. Then you can slowly and carefully choose the appropriate food while shopping.

How to feel full during a diet?

Overweight people often gain weight due to eating large amounts of food.

They have long been accustomed to unlimited food intake and eating a lot; the amount of food that an average person would eat would not satisfy them.

Because they eat so fast, sometimes the concept of eating hasn't even reached the appetite center in their brain before they've finished eating.

People with this tendency should first adjust their food intake before starting a low-calorie diet.

Sudden reduction in food intake can cause hunger and restlessness.

However, we can find ways to get out of this predicament and allow the body to gradually adapt.

Here are some ways to feel full:

(1) Eat fruit before meals.

Eat two apples before meals.

Eating foods that are bulky but low in calories can suppress appetite to some extent.

Besides apples, peaches, bananas, watermelons, pears, and other fruits can also be eaten.

After persisting for one or two weeks and gradually getting used to it, you can halve the amount of fruit.

If you lose half your food intake and no longer feel hungry, then this method is successful; your stomach has also adapted to dieting.

You can drink unsweetened fruit juice instead of eating fruit.

(2) Get a feeling of fullness by eating low-calorie foods.

Seaweed and mushrooms are low in calories.

Mix these foods with fried tofu, carrots, soybeans, etc., add seasonings, and cook.

Food prepared in this way is low in calories, large in volume, and easy to make you feel full.

In addition, seaweed can be used to make jelly, and kelp can be used to make soup.

How can staple foods be prepared to aid in weight loss?

People's daily staple foods are rice, steamed buns, and various kinds of rice and noodles, which contain rich nutrients such as starch, protein, and vitamins, and are the main source of human energy.

Therefore, many people reduce their intake of staple foods to control and lose weight when dieting.

However, if the following preparation method is adopted when making staple foods, the staple foods we eat every day can be turned into weight loss foods.

The method is to put cooked rice and steamed buns in the refrigerator and store them at 2℃~4℃ for a period of time. The starch in them will then turn into a weight-loss food that is not easily absorbed by the human body.

The principle is that starch granules swell and break down in an aqueous solution at 60℃~80℃ to form a uniform paste-like solution, which is called gelatinization, the process of cooking rice and steaming buns.

Gelatinized starch is easily digested by enzymes and absorbed by the human body.

However, gelatinized starch often becomes opaque or even precipitates when left for a long time or when the moisture content is between 30% and 60% and the temperature is maintained between 2°C and 4°C (i.e., starch retrogradation).

After eating this aging food, the starch fills the stomach, but it is not absorbed and at the same time reduces the feeling of hunger.

Even more advantageously, the protein in staple foods is almost completely preserved after these processes, and the main vitamins-B vitamins-are also minimally lost due to their high stability.

Therefore, this type of weight-loss food only reduces calorie absorption without affecting the absorption and utilization of other nutrients. It is also easy to prepare, making it an ideal weight-loss food.

The timing of meals is also closely related to weight gain.

By controlling the timing of meals, you can ensure that you get enough nutrition and prevent obesity.

Foreign experts have found that the human body experiences increased adrenaline secretion primarily in the morning or during the day.

Adrenaline promotes the breakdown, synthesis, and metabolism of substances, so eating in the morning is less likely to cause overnutrition and weight gain.

Practice has shown that eating 8368 kilojoules of food in the morning will not cause weight gain, but eating the same amount of food in the morning and evening will lead to weight gain.