I’m not saying that you need to incorporate all of these ideas all at once, but pick one or two that you can comfortably work in to your daily life, and when it becomes second nature to you, revisit yesterday’s post and today’s post to incorporate one or two more ideas into your routine.  Before you know it, you will feel better and be healthier will little effort!  Today’s tips and tricks are courtesy of Dr. Mercola at foodconsumer.org. 

Eat Slowly and Savor Your Food
Chewing your food twice as long as you normally would will instantly help you control your portion sizes, which naturally decreases calorie consumption.

Another benefit of chewing longer is that your food is digested better. The majority of your digestive enzymes are actually in your mouth, not in your stomach. (Who knew?) Therefore, chewing your food longer allows it to be broken down better.

You’re also likely to find that you actually enjoy the taste of the food more and feel more satisfied.

A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism last year found that people given identical servings of ice cream on different occasions released more hunger-regulating hormones when they ate it in 30 minutes instead of five. (I still trying to figure out how they managed to keep the ice cream from melting during that 30 minute period!) So although the serving size remained the same, they felt fuller after savoring the ice cream compared to when they wolfed it down.

In another study from 2008, subjects also reported feeling fuller when they ate slowly. Interestingly, they also ended up consuming about 10 percent fewer calories when they ate at a slow pace as opposed to when they were rushing.

A third study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that eating quickly, and eating until feeling full, tripled subjects’ risk of being overweight.

So just by making a conscious effort to slow down when you eat, you may find you need to eat less to feel satisfied. This means you’ll also want to avoid eating on the run, in the car, while standing up or while you’re distracted with another task.

Cook Your Food from Scratch
If your diet consists of fast food, restaurant meals and processed food, it will be difficult to lose weight and also to be healthy. Even though this is frequently the most convenient, least expensive and best tasting option, if you regularly engage in this choice you are simply begging for trouble.

Even the healthiest restaurant meals are typically loaded with calories as well. According to a registered dietitian and representative for the American Dietetic Association, restaurant meals average between 1,000 to 1,500 calories, and because they’re served in gigantic portions, you’re likely to eat more than you would at home.  (Yeah, remember my blog post on Xtreme eating?  click here for a refresher:  http://blog.remmelwellness.com/wellness/xtreme-eating-restaurant-style/)

The end result is that eating out often means you’re typically eating low-quality food at a premium price, a lose-lose situation for both your health and your waistline.

Unfortunately, many Americans have made eating out a way of life. In 2008, the average U.S. household spent close to HALF of its food budget on meals eaten away from home, according to The Survey of Consumer Expenditures for 2008, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

I have long stated that if you want to be optimally healthy, you, a family member or someone you hire needs to put some serious time into preparing your meals. This way, you can prepare your meals with unprocessed, high-quality food, you control the portion sizes, and you can enjoy your food in an atmosphere that is calming and not rushed.

Eat a Healthy Breakfast
Skipping breakfast can lead to weight gain, plain and simple. On the other hand, studies have shown that eating breakfast can have beneficial effects on:

•Appetite
•Insulin resistance
•Energy metabolism
One study found that obesity and insulin resistance syndrome rates were 35 percent to 50 percent lower among people who ate breakfast every day compared to those who frequently skipped it. This is true of teenagers too, who tend to be about five pounds heavier than their peers if they skip breakfast.

So you want to be sure to eat breakfast, but while you’re at it make certain that you’re not simply eating sugary cereal or refined carbs (bagels, pancakes, toast, etc.). Instead, your breakfast should absolutely include a healthy source of protein, such as eggs, to keep you energized throughout your day.

5 More Metabolism-Boosting Weight Loss Essentials
Everyone’s metabolism is different, but you can speed it up or slow it down within a reasonably short amount of time by making the following commonsense changes to your diet and lifestyle:

1.Eat according to your nutritional type to ensure your body is getting the right fuel it needs
2.Avoid sugar and grains as they are the leading cause of insulin- and leptin-resistance, which affects your hunger levels, your weight, and your risk of any number of diseases
3.Listen to your hunger, and eat a healthy meal or snack when hunger calls
4.Implement a well-rounded exercise regimen that includes strength training to build muscle (for every pound of muscle that you gain, your body burns 50-70 calories more per day), as well as interval training, which has been demonstrated to significantly increase fat loss
5.Use healthy outlets for stress and negative emotions. Tools like the Emotional Freedom Technique/Meridian Tapping Technique (EFT/MTT) are your friend and ally when it comes to losing weight. For some, emotional eating or emotional traumas are more complex, and an experienced MTT practitioner may be able to help unravel some of these deeper emotional issues that are leading to overeating or junk food binges.  Meditation, prayer, journaling and even exercise can also provide positive outlets for stress.

I’m going to add a couple of my own tips here:

6. When you are feeling hungry, drink a glass of water and wait 15 minutes.  Most Americans are chronically dehydrated and the hunger sensation you feel is really your body’s way of asking for fluids.  If, after drinking a glass of water, you are still hungry, then reach for a healthy snack.

7.  At meal times, work your way around your plate, eating fiber-rich foods first.  I always each my veggies first, then work my way to the protein and if I am still hungry I will eat the starch/carbs.  Fill up on the low calorie, high nutrient foods first, and save the processed, high calorie, nutrient poor foods for last.  That way you get more of the good stuff and less of the bad.

Remember, the idea is not to deprive your body or starve yourself into a size 2. The goal is to establish a healthy relationship with food, one that will keep you satisfied, nourished and slim, all at the same time.

Posted by Laurie Puckett, Remmel Wellness Center – a full service chiropractic and wellness facility in St. Petersburg, Florida.