It’s a well-known fact that, following the excesses of the festive season, many people plan for a healthier January to detox and shed a few pounds. The problem is, despite our good intentions, a combination of cold weather, dark nights and goodies left over from Christmas and New Year contribute to many people failing to see out their diet plans.
Happily, help is at hand, in the shape of an emerging trend of foods that help you control your cravings, which could be just the thing you need to see through your healthy New Year’s resolutions.
[subhead] Guilt-free chocolate
Two chocolate brands, in particular, have started making waves, and contain natural ingredients that make you feel fuller for longer. One, called Lola, originates from Spain, and uses an algae as a natural appetite suppressor, which gives the chocolate a green tinge. Another is made by new British healthy snack brand Ador. It contains the magic ‘feeling fuller’ ingredient of pine nut oil, and resembles normal Swiss chocolate.
Snacking on these products when you feel a craving coming on can help you make it to your next meal without eating anything else. And Ador’s chocolate comes in a handy 35g bar to help control your intake. Oat bars are also available, which contain Fabuless, a natural emulsion of oat oil and palm oil, that also helps curb your hunger pangs.
[subhead] All about appetite
A greater appreciation of appetite and cravings can also put you on your guard, and help you know when you need these new ‘skinny’ snacks.
Appetite is all about your desire for food, triggered by anything from the thought of it, to sight and smell. You can have an appetite for something even when physically full – hence desiring a pudding after a starter and main course. So, when trying to control what you eat, it’s important to separate out the feelings of physical hunger from appetite. You can do this by waiting for a good four hours after eating, so that you really know how it feels for your stomach to grumble and rumble with true hunger.
Next, make a note of the things that made you feel tempted to eat during this time. Try to pin point what it was that bought them to mind and stimulated this desire. Observe how long the desire to eat them carried on for and how many minutes it took for this wave of temptation to pass. Repeat this between breakfast and lunch, and lunch and dinner, and tot up what you have saved yourself from eating over the day, just by riding out the waves of appetite.
[subhead] Avoiding temptation
Variety is another big trigger for the temptation to eat more. Tests have shown that when you give people one flavor of yoghurt, offering them the same flavour will not be tempting. Offer a different flavour, however, and suddenly, they can find room for it. Forewarned is forearmed, and often just having this kind of knowledge is sufficient to help you gain some control over your appetite.
Choosing foods that are known to be particularly physically satiating can also help. Those rich in protein, such as lean red meat, chicken, eggs and fish, help to switch off hunger signals in our brains particularly quickly. Slowly digested carbohydrate foods – porridge, sugar-free muesli, rye, granary and pitta bread, tortilla wraps, sweet potatoes, pasta and most vegetables and fruits – play a similar role by releasing sugar into our blood slowly and steadily for several hours after eating. This helps us to keep you full, and does not trigger a knee-jerk desire to grab sugar-rich items, which quickly digested foods, like sugary cereals, white bread, cakes and biscuits, are notorious for doing.
Eating a small salad or soup before tucking into your main course can also help to take the edge off hunger and, in turn, help you control your appetite while eating.
[subhead] Beating cravings
In addition to hunger and appetite, many of us experience cravings – a powerful longing for one particular type of food. These are usually emotionally based or are simply down to habit. Psychologists believe it takes around six weeks of deliberately changing your behavior to break a habit. That is a month and a half of consciously saying ‘no’ to a craving for chocolate before the desire will pass.
No one it saying it is easy, but it is possible to control desires, temptation, appetite and cravings. The new natural ‘skinny’ chocolate and snacks can help, but if you’re also aware of your appetite and craving triggers you will be even better prepared to see in a healthier and slimmer 2010.
[notes]
Lola chocolate is made by Cocoa BIO in Spain, but unfortunately we can’t track down any contact details.
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