7 tips to help you eat less and feel full longer

​​Eating healthy and following a rigid eating plan can seem impossible, especially when you're trying to change your usual eating habits.

So eating sensible, well-balanced meals throughout the day can play a huge role in helping you feel fuller for longer.

According to nutritionists, by correctly planning your daily meals, you can find a way to feel fuller longer between meals and, as a result, resist the urge to indulge in any delicious food that is convenient but not healthy.

Here are the best ways that nutritionist advice can help you maximize your meals while beating hunger throughout the day:

Eat a lot of fiber

"Adding a small amount of fiber to each meal and snack is an easy way to keep you full longer. This is because fiber is digested more slowly than other nutrients and thus keeps the gut literally full" says Balance One nutritionist Trista Best 

There's fascinating new research that points to another reason fiber keeps you fuller for longer: acetate. This is a molecule found in fiber and released upon digestion in the intestines. It is then transported to the brain via the bloodstream, where it signals the body that we are full and should stop eating.

Drink more water

According to Best, drinking plenty of water is not only important for hydration, but it also helps control your hunger.

"There are two main reasons why drinking water can keep you fuller for longer: First, thirst can be mistaken for hunger because the thirst signal may be weak. Second, drinking water can activate tension receptors in the stomach, signaling satiety to the brain and hunger hormones," explains Best.

If your goal is to stay fuller for longer, it's essential that you drink a glass of water and not another beverage made with artificial sweeteners, such as soda.

"Sugar and artificial sweeteners produce glucose and insulin responses, which are actually known to cause overeating later in the day," says Best.

Avoid white starch

Expert Best reveals:

"Carbohydrate foods made from refined carbs — such as those found in white bread and cakes — don't have many of the nutrients that keep you full like fiber and protein. These carbs are also processed quickly by the body, making you feel hungry right after a meal.

This is especially true of pasta dishes, where pasta is made from refined carbs instead of whole grain sources like quinoa or whole wheat."

Therefore, expert Best advises that you should consider replacing your morning cake with oatmeal or refusing to eat white bread for lunch in favor of whole grains.

"When eating out, skip the refined pasta and opt for a high-fiber salad or whole grain bread," advises Best.

Eat crunchy vegetables

"Food that takes longer to chew makes us fuller faster and longer. Therefore, crunchy plant foods such as carrots, apples, cucumbers and celery have a higher water content and weigh heavier. This combination makes these foods low in calories and activates the stomach's stretch receptors more quickly,” explains Best.

These characteristics make crunchy vegetables a food that fills us up and also takes longer for the stomach to digest them, says Best.

"Due to their hard texture, the body has to work harder and harder to digest these foods. This leads to more calories burned during digestion and longer digestion. Hence, crunchy vegetables are a great addition to any meal or snack for a feeling of fullness and low calories," says Best.

Add more protein to your meals 

Incorporating some extra protein into your meals really helps you maintain satiety for a long time.

"Protein helps you feel full faster and stay full longer after a meal. Because protein takes longer to digest than carbohydrates, and when protein and carbohydrates are consumed together, it slows down the rate at which sugar enters your bloodstream, which helps control your blood sugar and hunger level for the next few hours,” says Nutritionist Amy Goodson, author of the popular nutrition book "The Sports Nutrition Playbook”.

"Consuming protein with meals and snacks helps keep your blood sugar levels down. Your meal can include eggs with whole-grain toast, fruit, and milk. For lunch, it could be a high-protein salad with fresh fruit or whole grain bread. For dinner, it could be lean beef with sweet potatoes and grilled vegetables. Also, don't forget to add protein in snacks as well as Greek yogurt with berries, whole grain crackers and cheeses, beef jerky….,” adds Goodson. 

Balance your blood sugar

"When blood sugar is high, we're more likely to experience cravings, low energy, brain fog and mid-afternoon fatigue," says registered dietitian Daria Piazza.

Therefore, we need to focus on meals that balance blood sugar. Accordingly, meals or snacks contain all three macronutrients, carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

Ideally, complex carbohydrates — ie vegetables, whole grains, legumes — are much better than simple or refined carbohydrates."

Eat healthy fats

A well-balanced meal with a bit of healthy fat really ensures that your meal will keep you feeling satisfied throughout the day.

"The protein, fiber, and fat in nuts help you feel fuller for longer, so you'll actually end up eating less throughout the day" — Dietitian Lisa Young, Eat This, Not That Advisor reveals.

"Fat helps you feel full after a meal and often keeps you from looking for food for a while because you don't feel hungry. So your goal should be to eat more healthy fats like nuts and nut butters, seeds, avocados, fatty fish and liquid cooking oils,” says Goodson. 

However, nutritionists state that fat provides more calories than carbohydrates and protein, so you don't need to eat as much fat as the other two macronutrients.

According to Eat This