Whenever I hear someone say ‘I eat what I want and I don’t gain weight’, I envy them. This is because I tend to start adding weight whenever I eat a lot of white carbohydrates, drink soda and eat refined carbs.
You won’t blame me. You see, in Nigeria, our foods are mainly white carbohydrates and these foods that are readily available to average families. Our soups are loaded with oil and we pride ourselves in our ability to enjoy our lives with our different delicacies.
But consuming these high carbohydrates foods affect our health in the long run. Many people are suffering from health issues resulting from long term consumption of white carbohydrates, refined carbs and sugar. It is sad that some people don’t want to change their lifestyle so that they can live healthier and longer.
When some people ask me ‘how do I eat without getting fat?’ I tell them to focus on eating little portions of food rather than eliminating some classes of food from their meals. I have learnt that depriving myself of some types of good make me crave them more. So, I try as much as possible to eat them in moderation.
Eating whatever you want without gaining weight is possible if you change the way you think about food. Does your eating habit work for you? Do you feel full after eating or do you get hungrier? Do you want to continue with the eating habits you have been raised with or do you want to change your life through food?
Continue reading to discover 10 ways you can enjoy eating without getting fat:
1. Eat only when you are hungry
Eating only when I’m hungry has worked for me since I started my weight loss journey two years ago. I have learned to listen to my body. Hunger tells you when to eat. You shouldn’t starve yourself because you want to lose weight. You should nourish your body by eating when you feel hungry. If you wait until you are extremely hungry to eat, you may overeat and that will make you gain weight.
2. Stop eating when you are full
Have you made a delicious meal and you go back to fill your plate with food after consuming the first plate? How often do you eat another plate of your favourite food after you are full? These days, I drink water before eating. I eat slowly and get in touch with the feeling that tells me to stop eating. If you want to eat without getting fat, stop eating when you are full.
3. Stop dieting
If you want to keep fit and stop gaining weight, stop dieting. Diets are not sustainable. Limiting yourself to dieting is not the best thing to do. This is because you deny yourself the pleasure of enjoying all classes of food. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, or you just want to be healthier, make a permanent lifestyle change instead. Eat all classes of food in small portions.
4. Stop eating all the time
If you want to eat without getting fat, stop eating all the time. It’s not healthy for you when food is ingested too rapidly. You can’t enjoy a healthy life if you your mouth is always busy chewing food. Slow down with eating. One way to reduce how much you eat is to divide what’s on your plate into two. Eat half of it and if you are still hungry 30 minutes later, come back and eat the other half. You don’t have to finish everything on your plate at once. Learn to eat little at a time, it helps to keep you full.
5. Stop emotional eating
It is true that when you are down emotionally, you can turn to food for comfort. Sometimes, this happens to me. When I feel sad about something, I eat just to feel better but it hampers my efforts to remain fit. Avoid emotional eating if you don’t want to gain weight. This habit can be very hard to break. Eating shouldn’t be your sole source of comfort. If you eat more than you need, do other things that bring you joy. Take a long walk, watch your favorite TV show, read a book, go window shopping, chat with your friend, vent to a trusted person or sleep.
6. Stop skipping exercises
Making exercise part of your daily routine is very important if you are focused on watching your weight. This doesn’t mean you should swallow food all the time because you work out consistently. Don’t exercise just to burn calories, you may not achieve much. You should hit the gym for healthy reasons and not to earn the right to swallow unhealthy food all the time.
7. Stop feeling guilty for eating
Eating should be an enjoyable experience for you. If you want to eat without adding weight, learn to eat mindfully and not feel guilty for fueling your body with food. No matter how badly you want to lose weight, you need food to get through your weight loss journey. You will enjoy food more when you don’t feel guilty for eating. Enjoying food is one way to practice mindful eating. You just need to eat the right kinds of food.
8. Stop disrespecting your body
If you load your body with too much food, you are disrespecting your body. Even if you are not looking as good as you want, you shouldn’t disrespect your body more by eating more than your body needs. You should accept and respect your body as it is now, while you’re shifting your relationship with food. With time, you will observe how it changes to a fitter and healthier you.
9. Stop labeling foods
While trying to lose weight or stay fit, you may become used to labeling foods dividing them into good and bad classes of food. If you want to eat food without getting fat, stop thinking about foods in those terms. Make sure you eat to nourish your body and stop isolating foods or categorizing them in classes of food to eat and foods not to eat.
10. Enjoy eating food
Once you start realizing how food tastes and how your body feels when you eat, you will also start noticing that some foods make you feel better than others. Keep a food diary to help you make the connection between what you eat and how you feel. This exercise will help you and make sure your old food habits become easier to change.
Conclusion
Eating without getting fat is a blessing only few people can boast of. Some of us add weight by looking hard at soda bottles or eating rice once a month. It’s not funny.
There are foods you can eat a lot and not gain weight. They include high proteins foods and vegetables. This is because they keep you full for a long time which prevents you from overeating.
If you want to lose weight fast, eat whole grain carbohydrates, proteins and vegetables. Make sure you eat protein, healthy fat and vegetables in your meals. Eat small meals at regular intervals and not one big meal at once.
