By taking some simple actions before your meals, you can greatly reduce your calorie intake during a meal, and get back in touch with your true appetite. The goal is to feel good while eating less instead of using sheer willpower to overcome feelings of deprivation.
[hr]
1. Take a Teaspoon of Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is quickly becoming more well known for its many uses. Not only is it great for cooking, it has benefits for the skin and can be taken directly to aid in digestion and help the body burn fat. This strikes most as an oddity since coconut oil has been villainized for its high levels of saturated fat compared to other oils.
If you consume a teaspoon of coconut oil before all three of your meals you’ll only have amassed 120 calories, and you’ll find that the amount of food you don’t end up eating amounts to far more than this.
On top of all the curative and fat-burning properties of coconut oil, you’ll be eating less without feeling hungry or deprived. Be sure to use organic, extra virgin coconut oil.
[color-box color=”main”]How It Works: Coconut oil is an amazing oil, and one of its properties is that it acts as an appetite suppressant. Taking a teaspoon, even up to a tablespoon of the oil before your meal will help you get that satisfied feeling sooner, reducing the amount of food you eat and the total calories you take in.[/color-box]
[hr]
2. Take a Teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar also has a range of uses both inside and outside of the body, but here we’re most interested in using it as an appetite suppressant. Taking apple cider vinegar before a meal has been recommended to those with a weak digestion, but it can also benefit those with normal digestion by helping them eat less during the meal.
When you take apple cider vinegar you’ll want to dilute it in water. It’s too acidic to take by itself, so be sure that you’re taking it with water. You’ll want to use organic apple cider vinegar with “the mother” still intact to get the most benefit from it.
[color-box color=”main”]How It Works: ACV helps you digest your food better, and also makes you less likely to eat as much during your meal. The combination of eating less and digesting it more thoroughly will have a noticeable effect on how you feel and how much weight you lose.[/color-box]
[hr]
3. Drink a Glass of Water
The signal for hunger and thirst are the same, so you don’t want to go into a meal in a dehydrated state or you’ll end up eating more. Make sure that before you sit down for a meal you’ve addressed your thirst. Then you’ll be better able to eat the right amount of food to satisfy your hunger, and no more.
Wait at least 30 minutes after drinking your water before eating in order for your digestion to be at its strongest. Wait an hour after your meal before you have your next glass of water to avoid water-logging your digestive system.
[color-box color=”main”]How It Works: Drink a glass of water 30 minutes before your meal so that you’re not confusing thirst for hunger, and you’ll end up eating the natural amount of food based on your actual hunger level.[/color-box]
[hr]
4. Eat an Organic Apple
Organic apples are an amazing way to get a full feeling while providing the body with nutrients it needs to function at its best.
You have to be sure that the apples you eat to diffuse your appetite are organic. GMOs, pesticides, and herbicides will not sit well in your body and could undo any of the benefits that you’ll receive from a reduced daily caloric intake.
[color-box color=”main”]How It Works: Apples are just plain good for you thanks to their assortment of vitamins and fiber numbers. They’re also great at taking up room in your stomach, so when you start your meal off with an organic apple, you’re displacing the extra food that you would have eaten at lunch or dinner.[/color-box]
[hr]
5. Eat an Ounce of Pine Nuts
Unless you’re already a huge fan, you probably don’t have a supply of pine nuts handy. But if you’re looking to eat less at each meal you’ll want to pick up a pack the next time you’re out shopping. Pine nuts provide a rich nutty taste despite being a seed and not a nut.
Pine nuts are rich in protein and minerals so you’re not just cutting down on how much you’ll eat at your meal, you’re supplementing your diet with a nutrient-dense nut. In a one ounce serving you’re only getting 191 calories, but the effect it has on your appetite insures that you’ll be making up for it by eating less.
[color-box color=”main”]How It Works: Pine nuts work by telling your brain that you’re full, which in turn helps you put the fork down earlier than you normally would. At the same time you’re getting important nutrients that will help your body get or stay slim and trim.[/color-box]
[hr]
6. Have a Big Salad
Loading up with a big salad before the main dish of your meal is one way to make sure that you won’t overdo it. Vegetables like spinach and kale have a low caloric load while taking up space in your stomach and making you feel full thanks to the fiber they contain. Add to that hydrating vegetables like cucumber and celery and you’ll also be addressing your overall hunger level.
Be sure to switch up your salad at each meal so you don’t get bored with it. With so many tasty low-calorie vegetables to choose from you can have a different salad each day of the week.
[color-box color=”main”]How It Works: The vegetables will help to fill you up and reduce the amount of other food that you’re having at your meal. You won’t feel deprived because you’re still eating the rest of your lunch or dinner, the salad is just a part of your meal, not your entire meal.[/color-box]
[hr]
7. Take an HTP-5 Supplement
This supplement gained popularity after being featured on The Dr. Oz Show and was described as being an all-natural appetite suppressant that helps curb emotional eating.
Dr. Oz recommended taking a 50mg serving of HTP-5 before each meal. The benefits touted are that you’ll feel better, sleep better, and eat less. In theory this sounds like the perfect pre-meal hack, as nothing is quite as easy as popping a pill. Real world feedback has been mixed, with some saying that it worked for them, and others saying that they didn’t notice any difference in their emotions or appetites. Scientific studies are also largely nonexistent, so this would be the last method to try before the ones above.
[color-box color=”main”]How It Works: This is advertised as an all-natural way to suppress your appetite while also working to calm negative emotions. Emotional eaters will find it especially useful as it will help cultivate a better mindset so that you’re only eating when you’re truly hungry.[/color-box]