Do you sometimes overeat at dinner?
Researchers have found that eating vegetable soup, or a low calorie salad, before your meal can significantly reduce calorie intake during the main course.
This makes complete sense because by the time you get to your main meal you feel a little full, and so you eat less dinner.
Salad eaters are also more likely to stop eating their main course earlier than they normally would, because they believe they’ve eaten a lot of food.
Today’s challenge is to have a salad before your main meal
Researchers have also found that higher calorie salad options had the opposite effect, leading to increased eating at the main meal.
So, why not go for a small leafy salad, or a small bowl of vegetable soup, this evening before your main meal, and see how it affects your eating habits?
Choose something like baby spinach leaves, rocket, or baby cos with a few tomatoes, cucumber, beetroot and carrot.
Will you try a salad with a meal chaser today?
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Melanie,
I’ve started to eat more rabbit food because I am trying to replace some of those calories during the day and still fill myself up. So far it seems to be working but I have to quit taking days off so much.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I really like your site.
John W. Zimmer’s last blog post..Santee Lakes Fun and Workout!
Hey Mel,
Sounds like a great idea. I think the serving size of the main meal is also a key factor. If you ate a salad but filled your plate during the main meal you might eat more because no matter how full you feel there is always a compulsion to leave no food on your plate.
Tom Parker – Free Fitness Tips’s last blog post..From Vitamin A to Vitamin E: 40+ Vitamin Rich Foods
Hey John,
I think the rabbits know something about nutrition that we could all take heed from!!
Seriously though, salads are a great way to fill up, and it doesn’t have to be boring, I normally through in raw broccoli, cauliflower or carrots to give it extra crunch.
Check out this interesting recipe from Sophie @ Mostly Eating: raw parsnip, chickpea and goats cheese salad.
Hi Tom,
I think you’re right about filling your plate too much at the main course.
If we eat a salad before we still need to make a conscious effort not to eat as much at the main meal, especially since you don’t start to notice how full you feel for some minutes after.
I’ve started consuming more veggies, in general. I like the baby spinach on my salad, but am allergic. No dice there. However, I’ve found red leaf lettuce to be a nice substitute.
I just have to make sure to avoid the high calorie dressings. Spoil all the benefits…
Greg’s last blog post..Too Much Exercise Can Be Bad, Too
Hey Greg,
Yeah those dressings are the killer of many a well intentioned persons healthy meal! A lot of people just don’t realise what they’re adding.
Normally I’ll add a dollop of dressing to my salads made with low fat natural yoghurt, garlic and cucumber…delicious!
The red leaf lettuce does sounds interesting, it is a curly lettuce? I’m not sure if I’ve had it before?
haha ^^ nice, is there a section to follow the RSS feed
This was really a good point to know in order to be aware that not everytime we eat we always gain fats over it, but there were also important things that this gives. It is not bad to eat the food that you want, but we may just try to consider the healthy benefit on that.
.-= Top Weight Loss´s last blog ..00047 Jc Silva 2005 Anal Chem V77p2187 =-.
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