- Choose quality over quantity. Subconsciously we know which foods are good for us. For example, nobody would confuse donuts to be healthy food. But the same number of calories eaten as broccoli is far healthier.
- Do not seek a wide variety of foods. you should select limited varieties of healthy balanced meals and majority of times, choose from these foods. Preplanning is always good. When you are hungry, it is hard to make the right choices especially when mind-boggling variety of super tempting foods are available.
- Avoid hyper-palatable food. We are not strangers to hyper palatable foods. One of my favorite place to get these foods are in State Fairs when I used to live in Kansas, I would take three days off from work to visit the fair so that I could sample all varieties of fried and not good-for-you treats. I love freshly fried Potato chips. It’s hot, It’s delicious, it is salty. And hits the spot, It becomes a vicious cycle. It’s just like listening to loud music. Initially, the music is loud but after a few hours, the same volume of sound is not that loud. This is exactly what happens when we keep on eating super delicious foods. After a few days, you will crave more delicious foods and, delicious foods have a high amount of fat and sugar in them.
- Eat less calorie-dense foods. If you are eating exact same number of calories in the form of donut vs. Broccoli, which one do you think will take you longer? I would suspect broccoli. Broccoli will occupy a larger volume in your stomach, therefore, keeping you full longer. There is a limit to this trick so I would recommend combining high-volume low-calorie foods with a good source of protein and healthy fats.
- Include foods with plenty of fiber in your diet. This is easier said than done. easy ways to include fiber in your diet is to include beans, lentils, and fresh green vegetables.
- Protein is satisfying. In general, a vegetarian diet is not considered a high-protein diet. But there are several options that one can choose from vegetarian foods which can be high in protein. For example, Paneer which is Indian cottage cheese has high protein but a low amount of fat. Beans and lentils are good sources of protein and they are quite satisfying.
- Plan what you will eat when you get hungry. When very hungry, healthy foods suddenly become unappetizing.
- Watch your portion of food.
- Limit your intake of refined carbohydrates in the evening.
- When in doubt, drink a few cups of water. Many times the hunger signal is not actually hunger but in fact thirst.
Making it easier to be a vegetarian