Patricia Bannan is back with another strategy to help you eat right when time is tight.  Make sure to check out her new book Eat Right When Time Is Tight: 150 Slim-Down Strategies and No-Cook Food Fixes.

Master Strategy 6: AppeSize your meals

by Patricia Banna

Think of a typical day: You’re on the go from the moment you get up. You grabbed lunch on the run, but you can’t even remember what you ate. Was it a veggie sandwich? A sub? A burger? Nothing? Finally, you sit down to eat dinner and before you know it, you’ve stuffed yourself. In less than ten minutes you inhale more calories than you’ve eaten all day.

That’s where what I call an “AppeSizer” comes in. An AppeSizer is an appetite speed bump. And just as a cement speed bump slows your car, an edible speed bump slows your eating. An AppeSizer is something that’s low in calories and takes time to eat. A bowl of broth-based soup, an apple, a handful of sliced veggies and spicy salsa—all make excellent AppeSizers.

Your stomach takes about twenty minutes to signal your brain it’s had enough food. An AppeSizer starts that clock running and slackens your eating pace, helping you transition from the stresses and pressures of your day to enjoying your meal. In short, an AppeSizer curbs your appetite and lets you feel satisfied with less—without making an effort to control your consumption.

Here are three easy ways to AppeSize your next meal:

• Have a bowl of broth-based soup before a meal.
• Order a cup of hot herbal tea while you’re waiting for a meal; it will take time to drink and give you something to do instead of munching on bread or high-fat appetizers.
• Have a 100-calorie snack that includes protein before a big meal (e.g., 2-3 tablespoons hummus, 1 tablespoon nut butter, 1 cup nonfat yogurt, or 30 pistachios).

Patricia Bannan, MS, RD is a nutrition expert and author of the newly released Eat Right When Time Is Tight: 150 Slim-Down Strategies and No-Cook Food Fixes.