With so much information out there it can get really confusing about what we should do to eat healthily.
Should we be eating the "Paleo" Diet? Vegetarian Diet? Atkins Diet? Dukan Diet? Gluten Free Diet? Intermittent fasting? Mediterranean Diet? No Carbs after 6pm? What about if we eat more protein? Eat more healthy fats? Or more vegetables? Perhaps reduce starchy carbs as you heard they are bad for weight loss?
The truth is some of these diets or food groups will all work for most people to a certain extent?
However many of these are unsustainable for people and hard to stick to. In fact, the two most important nutrition habits for weight loss, do not even include what you should eat. Perhaps this will shock you as much as it did me when I first learnt about it.
Habit 1- Eat Slowly
Really... that's it? Eat slowly?! How hard can that be?
Well actually...it is pretty hard... at first.
If you take note for the next couple of days, as to how you eat your food, where you eat it and go so far as to time how long it takes you. I would bet that most people reading this would be finished in well under 10 minutes, had a smart phone to hand, was watching TV or on your computer. Were you standing up or eating on the go? Chances are a combination of each.
We are so busy in today's world that eating can seem like an inconvenience. We are time poor and have things to do! Unfortunately, this can lead to many issues. For example, if we are in such a rush to get our food down, we forget what food tastes and feels like. When was the last time you thought about the texture of the food you were eating...? I know, a weird question right?
It takes our body 20 minutes for our stomach to send signals to our brain to tell us that we are full. So to help with the whole slowing down thing here are 3 techniques you can use to help you slow down your eating.
1. Add 5 minutes to each of your meals
2. Sit down and enjoy your meal
3. Put your eating utensils down between each bite
The 3 main benefits of eating slowly are:
1. You will digest your food better (no more indigestion)
2. You will feel more relaxed
3. You will feel more satisfied
An interesting exercise you can try to help you practice slow and mindful eating is the raisin test. I learnt this from Precision Nutrition and it's a good one!
Rules- Eat 15 raisins in 15 minutes (One a minute), no phones/ computers, TV, work or distractions.
1. Smell the raisin (yes I know...)
2. Pop it in your mouth and roll it around a bit. What is the texture like?
3. Chew the raisin 15 times before swallowing
4. Rinse and repeat until you have consumed 15 raisins in 15 minutes
You will be amazed how much flavor there is in a single raisin and how satisfied you feel after eating them.
PS- It took me about 7 minutes to get into and stop my mind getting distracted with voices in my head saying "why am I doing this?", "This is boring", "What am I supposed to feel or taste?", "This is a waste of 15 minutes" and "Am I eating too quickly?" and e.t.c.
Habit 2- Eat Until 80% Full
This habit really requires the skill of the first habit. It is very hard for us to ascertain how full we are. If we are used to rushing, we will usually eat until we are stuffed (which is too much by the way).
80% is not a specific number, rather an idea of eating until "just satisfied" or "no longer hungry", but not full or stuffed.
This is quite a challenging habit as we have to be mindful, aware and listen to the cues our body is giving us.
Some of these cues may include
Hunger cues: light headiness, loss of concentration, "hangry" (hungry and angry), spaced out
Over fullness cues: feeling stuffed/bloated, gassy, heavy and sluggish
Satiety cues: feeling energized and no longer hungry, generally satisfied, feeling like you could get up and do something active such as walking
It might be a good exercise to try and eat to 80% full, 100% full and 120% full at different meals so you get an idea of what each one feels like.
The Benefits Of Both Of These Habits
Well firstly, we have not even had to look at the composition of your food. That is usually the hardest thing for most people to change due to the deeply ingrained habits we already have. We also tend to have a strong emotional connection to certain foods. You know the ones....tucked away in your kitchen cupboard or in the freezer...
If you are eating junk food slowly, you will be more likely to feel satisfied earlier meaning you won't eat the whole thing. (There are certain foods that have chemicals and additives that bypass or suppress your satiety hormones, but more on that in another newsletter). If you then eat less by following this habit, then guess what... you will lose weight. This won't last forever, but it's a start.
By eating more slowly and eating slightly less than we usually do, we will improve our digestion, absorb more nutrients from the food we consume and have more energy to live life with as a result.
We have not had to delve into calorie counting, have a huge overhaul of the contents in our kitchen and more importantly we can take this skill/ habit anywhere in the world with us.
I would recommend trying one of these habits for at least 30 days each. See if you can stick to it at least 27/30 days and see if you notice any differences.
Once you complete that level of consistency then try the next one for 30 days. If you can master just these two nutrition habits alone, you will probably lose more weight this year than you have on many other attempts at dieting.
Yours In Health
Patrick Fallis
PS I learnt these two amazing habits from my education with Precision Nutrition and want to give them full credit for my inspiration to write this newsletter. If you are interested in more awesome nutrition info then I highly recommend you check out their blog or try one of their programs.
Founder of Leaner
www.leaner-uk.com