If you want to lose weight, you should eat well first.

Losing weight, or more scientifically called "weight control", has indeed become a constant pursuit of modern people, and this need exists for all men, women, young and old. Our ancestors, who lacked food and clothing, would certainly not understand why they had to lose the fat they had accumulated with great difficulty, and why they had to starve in the face of delicious food. But for modern people, losing weight is not only to maintain a slim figure, but also to prevent various chronic metabolic diseases caused by obesity and improve health.

It is said that "30% of weight loss depends on exercise and 70% on diet". Some friends understand this as using exercise as an auxiliary, and the main thing is to control the energy intake of diet. My understanding is: First, if you want to control your weight, exercise is indeed indispensable, because it can help us shape beautiful lines, accumulate muscle mass, and increase the basal metabolic rate, which is very necessary for maintaining long-term weight loss effects. Second, if you want to lose weight scientifically, you must have a scientific and reasonable diet. On the basis of ensuring that you are full and eat well, you can better achieve your weight loss goals, and this method is more sustainable.

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Eat first and then lose weight, what’s the logic?

The simplest truth is that starving is against human nature, and it is too difficult to stick to it for a long time. Once you give up, rebound will follow. Secondly, dieting and starving will not only limit calorie intake, but also lead to insufficient intake of other nutrients, which will lead to muscle loss, decreased immunity and other problems. Even if you can lose weight, you will lose healthy skin, hair and beautiful lines, and become very susceptible to illness. The cost is really not small. Third, the full metabolism of fat requires the participation of other nutrients, such as carbohydrates, B vitamins, high-quality protein, vitamin C, zinc and other minerals. When we consume very little of the above nutrients due to dieting, the effect of weight loss will be twice the result with half the effort.

The so-called eating full and then losing weight, on the one hand, means that you don't have to resort to dieting to control your weight. When we understand the characteristics of food and the essence of weight loss, we can choose the right food to match, so that we can eat full and not exceed the calorie intake. On the other hand, it means that a scientific and reasonable diet structure will not only prevent us from accumulating fat and gaining weight, but also ensure that we have sufficient intake of various nutrients that ensure the normal function of the human body and help fat metabolism.

In addition, when we are able to eat enough and not feel hungry, both our mood and physical strength will be improved. Positive emotions and good physical strength can promote our determination to stick to a healthy diet and strengthen exercise. It can be seen that eating enough to lose weight is by no means a joke, but a wise motto for scientific weight loss.

What should we eat when we say “eat your fill first”?

Since we want to eat enough and lose weight at the same time, we can't just eat everything without selection. If we choose high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt foods, over-processed foods, small-volume and high-calorie foods to fill our stomachs, we can't "eat enough and lose weight" anyway. Foods with the following characteristics are the best choices for filling your stomach during weight loss.

Stay hydrated.

Foods that are rich in water can not only fill our stomachs with a lot of water, thereby increasing the feeling of "fullness", but also sufficient water is a necessary condition to ensure good metabolism of substances in the body. We have all heard that drinking a cup of warm water before meals can help lose weight, which is actually not without reason. As long as the digestive function of the stomach is normal, drinking a moderate amount of water before meals can indeed reduce the total food intake and moisturize the gastrointestinal tract. Drinking some light soup or porridge before a meal is similar to drinking water. It should be noted that drinking water and soup before meals is not suitable for people with insufficient gastric acid secretion; people with gastroesophageal reflux disease are not suitable for drinking too much water and porridge before meals.

High in dietary fiber.

The higher the dietary fiber content of the food, the stronger the feeling of fullness it brings. The longer the feeling of fullness lasts, the less likely people are to increase the possibility of eating snacks or staple foods due to hunger.

Coarse grains, whole grains, whole beans, fresh fruits and vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables, and tender beans are all high in dietary fiber, and are particularly suitable for inclusion in diets during weight loss. In addition to a strong sense of fullness, whole grains are richer in B vitamins, minerals and other nutrients than refined rice and white flour, and the content is also higher. In other words, coarse grains are foods with higher nutritional density than refined grains. Replacing part of refined grains with coarse grains will not only ensure that we get enough nutrients when we don't eat too much, but also promote intestinal peristalsis and improve defecation through dietary fiber. At the same time, this type of food will not cause too much fluctuation in blood sugar after eating, and can keep blood sugar at a relatively stable level, which is also beneficial to weight loss to a certain extent.

Many actors often need to lose weight in a short period of time due to their job requirements. If we observe carefully, we will find that their diets often contain a lot of vegetables, fruits, beans and other foods rich in dietary fiber.

Low in fat and high in high-quality protein.

Lean animal meat, skinless chicken, fish, shrimp, seafood, low-fat dairy products, etc. are all foods with low fat and high quality protein content. Since high-quality protein is digested slowly and consumes more energy during the digestion process, they have become an indispensable source of high-quality nutrition during the weight loss period.

It should be noted that when processing such foods, low-fat and light methods must be adopted, such as steaming, boiling, and stewing, to avoid increasing fat and calorie intake due to improper cooking.

Contains carbohydrates that are difficult to digest.

Some foods, such as cooled rice and potatoes, contain a substance called resistant starch (converted from starch), which is not easily digested, thus increasing satiety and reducing total calorie intake. For friends who are losing weight and have good gastrointestinal function, this is also an option to consider. But if you usually have indigestion, this type of food is not within your consideration.

Rich in vitamins and minerals.

Foods rich in vitamins and minerals, such as lean animal meat, offal, and fresh fruits and vegetables, are also essential foods during weight loss. The reason is as mentioned above, the nutrients they contain are essential for fat metabolism. From the perspective of satiety, fruits and vegetables have a high satiety, and lean meat rich in high-quality protein can also keep us from feeling hungry for a long time after eating.

If you are worried about the high cholesterol content in animal offal, you can choose lean animal meat. For example, red meat is rich in iron, and aquatic products are high in calcium, zinc and other minerals.

These eating methods that won’t make you hungry can help you eat well and lose weight

In addition to choosing the right food, some small eating tips can also increase satiety without increasing calorie intake. It is worth your reference.

1. Adjust the order of eating

Change the traditional eating order of rice first and then soup to drink some light soup first, then eat vegetables, then eat some lean meat, and finally eat a small amount of staple food. This order can utilize water, dietary fiber and protein to maximize the feeling of fullness before we eat more staple food. In the long run, it is a very good weight loss technique.

2. Chew slowly and even pause when eating

The length of time you eat is related to your brain's perception of "fullness". If you eat a lot of food in ten minutes, your brain may not be able to sense fullness at all. You see, the reason why we encourage people to chew slowly is not just to help digestion. You can try it. If you get up and do something else during a meal, you may feel a little full when you return to the table and cannot eat too much.

3. Choose smaller, darker tableware

Research has found that using small tableware to hold the same amount of food will make people feel that they have "eaten a lot" visually; in addition, some dark green and dark purple tableware will affect appetite and make people feel "full". Now you can understand why most restaurant tableware is white or other light colors.

It is no joke that eating well is the best way to lose weight. Only when we take every bite of food seriously can we achieve a healthy and youthful state to the greatest extent.

The article is produced by Science Popularization China-Starry Sky Project (Creation and Cultivation). Please indicate the source when reprinting.

Author: Wang Lu, Chinese registered dietitian, Master of Public Health, Peking University

Reviewer: Xue Qingxin, the first batch of nutrition instructors of the National Health Commission, China registered nutritionist