- Take Small And Frequent Meals Throughout The Day
Keep small snacks like plain crackers or almonds in your bag, just in case you get hungry through out the day. A friend of mine has small snacks in her bag all the time. It may seem like a diet disaster, but having snacks on standby has kept her from being famished and bingeing later on. I know that, because she’d gladly (not grudgingly) order a no-dressing chicken salad during dinner while the hungry folks are hankering after steak and fries. And when everyone’s in a dilemma about which dessert to order, she actually says “I’m full – no dessert for me.”
Watch your skinny girlfriends closely. They’re usually the last few – if not the last – to finish their food. They are excellent at pacing their meal, knowing just when to bring another spoon to their mouths, and when to put it down. Just because you see them hovering over their meal for a long time, it doesn’t mean that they’re eating a lot. They’re just taking their time to chew and savour food. When they’ve hit their satisfaction quota, they won’t hesitate to leave unfinished food behind. Because they know those calories are better deposited in a bin than on their waistlines.
Not just one cup after every meal, but enough to keep you substantially full. My girlfriend L never goes out without a water bottle in her bag. Whenever she’s feeling peckish, guzzling 200ml of H2O usually does the trick. Another, M, drinks only plain water and unsweetened green tea – and loves it. I like to think that this beverage rule has saved her lots of unnecessary calories from soft drinks and fruit juices.
This is especially important when you’re eating out with friends, because that’s when you’ll tend to bust your diet allowances. Before checking out a restaurant menu, think about your favourite healthy food that’s easily available. When my friends say “I’ll let you decide where to go for dinner”, they actually already have something in mind.
Back to my snacking girlfriend T: She’s almost guaranteed to order a sashimi or salmon don at Japanese restaurants, a salad or wholemeal sandwich at western cafes, an aglio olio pasta at Italian joints, and clear tom yam soup at Thai eateries. Special deals and promos hardly appeal to her. Boring? Perhaps. But hey, who am I to judge – she enjoys her meal just as I do mine.
While indulging once in a while is perfectly fine, healthy and slim people tend to move towards getting in food that gives them more nutrients and satisfies them overall instead of just satiating hunger.
Text: Estelle Low/Shape