Fast Diet - Eat often and you'll eat less

How do you make a fat rat? You have to tell him the kitchen is closed until dinner time so he can't nibble all day and spoil his appetite. After a week of frustration, he learns to eat a lot of rat chow at his one big meal, and he ends up gaining 30 percent more fat weight as a result. This could be bad news for those of the human species who alternately stuff and starve themselves because they don't have time (or so they say) to eat on a regular schedule. A different study found rats deprived of food all but one hour a day are more likely to choose sugar water than nutritious rat chow when they do eat. If this translates to soda pop instead of bagels for over-hungry people, skipping meals and snacks could do double damage.

If you're a confirmed member of Over-eaters Unanimous, set the Timing now for Quantity (and perhaps Quality) Control. Though it sounds crazy at first, you will not only be less hungry, you will probably eat less (and store less surplus body fat) if you eat more often--every three to four hours if possible. In other words, if you graze, you'll be less likely to gorge. Just choose what you graze on carefully.

On the other hand, there are a few people who really need to batten down the cupboards, This girl's one-day Eating Diary had 40 entries. Each time she would pass out peanut butter graham crackers or fruit juice to one of her three preschoolers, she'd have a bite, too, often with a cheese and Frito chaser. There was nothing that looked like a real breakfast or lunch anywhere on her diary, and not a veggie in sight.

And that's the main problem with quick foods and no prepared meals: the vegetables, especially cooked veggies, seem to disappear. If you have unlimited access to food during the day, designate a definite time for meals, and schedule a reasonable number of fillers in between them. If you have to, leave a note on the fridge that says, "Safe Deposit Box: Only open for snacks at 10, 2, and 4."

HUNGER BUSTERS

• Eat breakfast, or a more substantial breakfast, with a little protein or fat, especially if you're plagued with afternoon hungry.
• Eat a snack or meal every three or four hours during the day; it doesn't have to be much, sometimes a blite or two will do.
• Eat a real snack, while sitting down, before you start dinner or while it's cooking; gry to keep your paws off the dinner foods until dinner, when you can be conscious of what and how much you're eating.
• Eat something before you go, whether it's a late dinner out, a beer and chips party, or a long meeting with only coffee for refreshment.
• Take something with you when you go to the movie, the beach, or the park; otherwise, the concession will probably snatch your small change.
• Keep a list of good and easy snack ideas handy, and add a few of them to your grocery list each week.
• Some of the most popular snacks can provoke hunger rather than satisfy it; take it especially easy on the Spoilers, sugar, salt, caffeine, and alcohol.
• Eat mostly fiber foods, and you won't have to deal with going hungry at all.