Slimming down by eating slowly, not stuffing! Tip of the week 1

Slimming down by eating slowly. Why is eating slowly better for your digestion? Your body has time to absorb and digest the food. Slow eating creates the so-called 'feeling of satiety'.

When you have eaten enough, your brain signals your body that you can stop eating, that you are 'satiated'.

This signal will not reach your body immediately; about 20 minutes will pass here. Only then will your brain realise that food is being eaten, that the body is satiated and that the hunger signal may disappear.

So when you eat very quickly and cram your food down your throat at lightning speed, this signal only comes when you have finished eating. At that point, you have probably already eaten too much and thus unnecessarily ingested too many calories!

So the fact that you can lose weight by eating slowly is definitely not a fable. In the past, when I still lived at my parents' house, I sometimes still felt hungry after meals and wanted to go get something to eat or snack in the kitchen.

My mother would always say: 'Let your food down first'. When I followed her advice and waited a while, it indeed turned out that I was no longer hungry anyway.

I only now understand why. I probably ate too fast and didn't get the 'satiated' signal until I had long finished eating.

Similarly, if you watch TV or read while eating, chances are that you may unknowingly eat too fast or be so distracted by the film or your magazine that you don't notice the feeling of satiety or don't notice it until too late.

During the meal, focus on what you get in, enjoy it and stop eating in time.

Besides eating slowly, chewing your food properly contributes to the digestion process in a positive way, also not unimportant!

This week you may also weigh yourself! Click >HERE for handy weighing and measuring tips.

The above text previously appeared in the Balance book. The book is now sold out, but may still be available to order second-hand via the link below.

The Balance Book

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