Encouraging Health

Got a craving? If you’re going to indulge, do it as early in the day as you can.

Why? Because the later you do it, the more you’ll probably need to eat to feel satisfied.

Better Early Than Late
Yep, timing is everything when it comes to feeding a yen. Research shows that our capacity to feel satisfaction from our food is stronger in the morning and grows progressively weaker throughout the day. In other words, you may have to really chow down at night to satisfy a craving. Researchers believe that circadian and diurnal rhythms — the body’s natural daily patterns — determine this effect. Bottom line: Don’t undereat during the first part of your day. You’ll likely just make up the calories — and then some — later on.

Large, Medium, and Small
If you’re looking to lose a few extra pounds (or just hold steady), a recent study suggests it may be best to eat your largest meal in the morning, followed by a midsize lunch, and an even smaller dinner.

10 Ways to Outwit Your Appetite

You don’t have to be smarter than a quiz-show fifth-grader to learn how to control the urge to eat. Just follow these ingenious tips to keep your appetite under wraps:

• Feed it protein for breakfast. You’ll be less hungry later on and end up eating 267 fewer calories during the day. At least that’s what happened on days when St. Louis University researchers gave overweight women two scrambled eggs and two slices of jelly-topped toast for breakfast rather than about half that protein.

• Make it climb a flight of stairs. At home, store the most tempting foods way out of reach. For instance, Cornell University food psychologist Brian Wansink, PhD, keeps his favorite soda in a basement fridge. “Half the time I’m too lazy to run down there to get it, so I drink the water in the kitchen.”

• Sleep on it. People who don’t get their 8 hours of ZZZs experience hormonal fluctuations that increase appetite, report researchers.

• Give it something else to think about. When scientists scanned the brains of people eating different foods, they found that the brain reacts to fat in the mouth in much the same way that it responds to a pleasant aroma. So if you feel a craving coming on, apply your favorite scent.

• Never let it see a heaping plate. The more food that’s in front of you, the more you’ll eat. So at a restaurant, ask your waiter to pack up half of your meal before serving it to you, then eat the extras for lunch the next day.

• Put it under the lights. You consume fewer calories at a well-lit restaurant table than you do dining in a dark corner. “In the light, you’re more self-conscious and worry that other patrons are watching what you eat,” explains Wansink.

• Talk it down. Entertaining friends with a great story doesn’t give you much time to eat up, so you’ll probably still have food on your plate when they’re done. Once they’re finished, call it quits, too.

• Offer it a seat. If you sit down to snack — and use utensils and a plate — you’ll eat fewer calories at subsequent meals.

• Satisfy it with soup. Start lunch with about 130 calories worth of vegetable soup and you’ll eat 20% fewer calories overall during lunch, say Penn State experts.

• Give it little choice. Packages that contain assorted varieties of cookies, candy, dips, cheese, etc., make you want to try all the flavors. The effect is so powerful, says Wansink, that when people are given 10 colors of M&Ms to munch on, not 7, they eat 30% more!