How to Feel Full while Losing Weight

From a registered dietitian and weight loss coach

It’s SO much easier to stick to your diet when you aren’t feeling hungry all the time! And what we eat DOES matter when it comes to how full we are - think of a cupcake. That’s about 400 calories, and doesn’t fill you up at all. Now think of a plate of chicken and broccoli. You’d have to eat a LOT to get 400 calories and you’d be STUFFED.

Now of course that’s an extreme example, but you get the idea. When you fill your diet with 80% foods that keep you satiated, you are less hungry and lose more weight!

The best part is that these aren’t complicated strategies - I’m all about keeping it simple.

1. Drink water

Drink an 8 ounce glass of water 15 minutes before you eat. This helps make sure you are not confusing being thirsty with being hungry, and also has been shown to reduce the number of calories eaten at a meal!

2. Have a balanced plate

A well balanced plate is ½ vegetables, ¼ starch and ¼ protein. This is a lot less starch, and a lot more vegetables than we are used to eating! But it will fill you up so much more. 

Here’s an example of my salisbury steak, sweet potato, and roasted veggie dinner and how that might look!

3. Eat Slowly

Try timing each meal to take at least 20 minutes to eat. That’s how long you really need to feel the effects of your food. I don’t expect you to do this every day, but try it for all your meals for one day and see how it feels! 

One method I use to eat slower is to use chopsticks. You can also put your fork or spoon down between every bite. It also helps to sit with a slow eater and match their pace.

4. Meal Timing

Did you wait too long and get too hungry? Are you trying to eat a bigger meal at a time when you aren’t naturally hungry? 

Everyone is different, so you might try moving a meal to an hour earlier or later in the day and see how that works for you! If you have a LONG gap between lunch and dinner, try having lunch a little bit later (if you can) and adding a snack in the middle. Check here for my favorite macro friendly snacks!

Homework!!!

Print off the graphic to left (here is a link if that’s easier) and take a day to assess your hunger before and after each meal. This is also a great activity to try with kids or your spouse. 

If you don’t have a printer you can definitely do this in a notebook or the notes app on your phone instead. 

If you find that you aren’t actually hungry when you’re looking for a snack/meal, you’re probably either bored or anxious.

Try taking a walk, reading a book, watching a youtube video, calling a friend, or playing a game for a few minutes to take a break instead.

And if you find that you’re stress eating - check out my article on how to stop stress eating!

PS: Do you want my 20+ Genius Hacks to drink more water so you can feel full longer? Click here for those tips!