Control Your Appetite with Repetition

Want a simple, no-frills trick for cutting back on calories? Repeat yourself. That is, repeat your meals.

Research shows that if you repeat meals -- for example, by eating the same healthy breakfast or lunch every day -- you will consume less food overall.

Love the Monotony
It's all thanks to the magic of meal monotony. Basically, there's an appetite-suppressing effect that comes naturally from restricting food choices. Call it "school cafeteria syndrome." And it really works. In a recent study, researchers fed volunteers the same macaroni and cheese dish every day for 5 days. By the fifth day, volunteers ate much less mac and cheese. In fact, on average they were consuming almost 20 percent fewer calories by day five. 

Make It a Habit
Some researchers think meal monotony lessens hunger because of what psychologists call habituation. The more times you present a stimulus to somebody, the weaker their reaction to the stimulus becomes. This applies to everything from violent images to loud noises. One bloody picture or loud bang will really affect you, but after several in a row, you start to get used to them. Or eat mac and cheese day after day, and the mouthwatering dish will have less pig-out appeal. Of course, you don't want to make a high-fat meal like mac and cheese a daily mainstay. But if you can plan one healthy option for either breakfast or lunch -- and repeat it daily -- there's probably less chance you'll overeat. 

The path to your new life and your new shape really is simple. Adopt these strategies and watch your body change effortlessly.

Make Your Eating Plan Automatic

Over a 14-day period, train yourself to make good-for-YOU food choices. You'll reprogram your appetite, so YOU will be in charge of what you're eating.

• Eat three main meals, plus snacks, so you're never hungry.
• Eat the same things for breakfast and lunch almost every day. Yes, every day. People who minimize food choices lose more weight.

Eat Deliciously

• Fill up on whole-grain carbohydrates (that includes vegetables); fiber; nuts; and lean, healthy protein.
• In a hunger emergency, chew on your favorites from this list: apples, almonds, walnuts, edamame (soybeans), chopped veggies, nonfat yogurt or cottage cheese. And water, of course.

Remember That Waist Is More Important Than Weight

Because of its proximity to vital organs, belly fat is the most dangerous fat you can carry. It is one of the strongest predictors of health risks (heart disease, diabetes, and more bad stuff) associated with obesity.

• Ditch the scale in favor of the tape measure.
• Measure your waist and aim small: Ideal is 32 1/2 inches or less for women and 35 inches or less for men.

Stay Satisfied

To lose weight, you need to eat.

• Eat often -- five or six times throughout the day -- so you're always satisfied. Slipping into starvation mode makes your body want to store fat.
• Eat plenty of fiber and some protein in the morning: Fiber in the morning helps control afternoon cravings; protein decreases appetite.

Add Support

Enlist a friend, family member, or new online buddy as your partner. Everyone needs encouragement -- and an occasional prod.

• After finishing your 30-minute walk every day, call a buddy or post something online for a pat on the back.
• When you start the 20-minute workout, do the same thing.

It's Okay to Make Mistakes

As long as you quickly get back on the right road, you won't travel too far down the wrong one. Just make a YOU-turn to change course.

A Few Final Tips

• Check food labels. Don't buy anything with more than 4 grams of saturated fat or 4 grams of any sugar (especially high-fructose corn syrup) per serving. Sat fat is an ager that's bad for your whole body, and simple sugars make you crave high-calorie foods.
• Get 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. Fatigue also makes you crave sugary foods. Why? They release the brain chemicals that a lack of sleep leaves you short on.
• Eat a little healthy fat -- like a handful of walnuts -- about 20 minutes before a meal. It will take the edge off, so you won't be tempted to overeat.
• Choose elegance over force. Weight-loss battles are won when you diet smart, not hard.

(Article from realage.com)

I'm surprised by this.  I know eating the same thing over and over gets boring but I wouldn't have guessed it would make you eat less and lose weight.  I would have guessed that it would make me pick at my boring dinner and then go gorge myself on cookies.

What about the issue of getting a wide variety of nutrients in our diet from lots of different foods?  How healthy would it be to always eat the same thing?

I have found repetition of both meals and exercise to work well fo me- it has become habit, and just what I do without thinking. But I do weigh myself daily to keep myself in check.

Good article- thanks!

I stock up on certain high protein foods that I eat every day (or nearly so) and it keeps me from thinking about what I'm going to eat all the time. Occasionally I do get bored so I will add something to the rotation. I'm eight weeks out and my staples are plain Greek yogurt with unflavored whey protein, cottage cheese, imitation crab meat, deli turkey, Wendy's chili, sundried tomatoes, red tomatoes with fresh mozzarella, and meatballs with plain tomato sauce and shaved parmesan cheese. Salmon would be another staple if I could be bothered to cook, which I can't, so it's more like a treat when I eat somewhere else :)