Your Health - Hints & Tips

At Westpark Fitness, we are passionate about getting you moving. And to get moving, you need to get inspired. Now, that’s where we come in. Read our articles for some expert insight into upcoming exercise innovations, new classes, training tips, plus common pitfalls to avoid so you can reach your exercise and wellness goals.

Hungry for Results

Losing weight is more than simply eating the right things. Use these helpful tips for weight loss success.

Have you ever wondered why that stacked salad sandwich at lunch leaves you with the mid-afternoon munchies? Are you following a low-fat diet but find it takes enormous quantities of carbohydrates to keep your appetite under control? Here’s some satisfying information about how to help you feel full, not fed up!

No Satisfaction

For some people, the usual low-fat, high-fibre food plan can make it difficult to manage hunger and avoid cravings for fatty, sugary foods. Rice cakes and fruit are outstanding nutritionally, but if they don’t fill you up, you can end up cancelling out any benefits with crisps or chocolate.

Protein Power

Satiety is the technical term for the feeling of fullness and satisfaction that arises after eating. When Sydney University researchers fed people a range of foods to produce satiety index scores, they found the most filling foods contained a lot of slowly digested carbohydrate (potatoes, porridge, pasta, All-Bran) or protein (beef, fish, beans, dairy foods) and required a lot of chewing.

This means that including lean meat and dairy foods (the foods dieters often cut back on fearing they are fattening) in a weight loss diet can increase fullness, reduce the munchies and is likely to get a better result if you have appetite regulation problems. Adding lean meats to salad sandwiches and eating low-fat yoghurt for snacks are two good ways to feel full for longer.

This also explains why eating protein bars, some up to 35% protein, can stave off hunger. Eating these as a "hunger buster" can be helpful, but these should not be the only snacks you eat. Fruit is still very healthy.

Getting a Handle on Hunger

For those who have trouble managing their appetite, keeping a record of hunger levels can be very effective in raising awareness of appetite fluctuations and triggers for eating. The hunger-fullness scale below provides a rating of both hunger (scored at the time you decide to eat) and fullness (scored when you stop eating). Leaving eating until you are ravenous can result in overeating to high scores of 8 or 9 where you are obviously beyond full. By keeping hunger-fullness levels between 3 and 7 on the scale you have a better chance of successful appetite management and weight loss.

Hunger-Fullness Scale:

9 Feeling sick
8 Very full
7 Full
6 Feeling satisfied
5 Neutral
4 Slightly hungry
3 Hungry
2 Very hungry
1 Ravenous

10 Feel-full fundamentals

Here are some other simple messages about feeling full:

Go low GI. Low glycaemic index carbohydrate foods take longer to digest and maintain feelings of satiety for longer. Examples include fat-reduced dairy foods, pasta, porridge and baked beans.
Slow it down. Slow down feeding to give yourself a chance to feel full. Researchers at the University of Florida found that brain activity in the hypothalamus, the appetite regulation centre, peaked 10 minutes after ingestion and was the brain’s signal that it was physically full.
Go for bulk. High-fibre foods add bulk to your diet without calories. Try wholegrain or wholemeal versions of bread, breakfast cereals, pasta and add more veggies to your main meals.
Spice it up. If your main meals are a little bland, add flavour with herbs, spices and condiments. This may prevent you from seeking more exciting, and fatty, foods afterwards.
Chew more. Foods that require more chewing slow feeding and take longer to digest. Lean meats, wholegrain pretzels and high-fibre cereals will give your jaws a workout.
Just add water. Drinking water with your meals can help your stomach reach capacity faster. If you get the munchies between meals, grab your water bottle as a first line of defence.
Downsize. Eating on smaller plates can create the illusion that you’re eating more. If you’re thinking about seconds, ask yourself whether you really need another serving.
Listen up. Pay attention to your body’s hunger signals. Before you eat, stop and ask yourself these questions: Am I really hungry? What do I really feel like eating? Would something healthier satisfy me?
Keep moving. When people quit demanding sport or an exercise routine, but continue to eat to fuel their past activity level, weight often creeps on. Maintaining some activity helps your hypothalamus down-regulate your appetite and balance your energy requirements.
Protein power. Add lean protein, such as fat-free ham or chicken to your salad sandwiches to fill you up for longer and avoid the mid-afternoon munchies.