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10 Ways to Put Your Appetite on Cruise Control

By Linda York
From Team Beachbody - Click here for resources, tools and information to help you to reach your health, fitness and positive lifestyle goals!

You may be pleasantly surprised to find out that the strong, sleek, sexy body you are working so hard to build should have a lot more in common with a Maserati than a Volkswagen. Now, the VW is an excellent automobile. It's cute and perky, and gets great gas mileage. These are all great attributes for a car. However, we want our bodies to be "gas guzzlers," meaning that we don't want to run all day on a small amount of food or "gas." We want our engine/metabolism to require more food—the right food—to keep us running fast and lean.

So how do we keep our appetite on cruise control? Here are 10 great tips to keep the calories burning, and your hunger satisfied—a winning combination for a high-performance body.

You snooze, you lose. That's right—researchers believe that lack of sleep affects hormones related to appetite, thus causing you to gain pounds when you don't get enough sleep. People who slept seven to eight hours lost fifty percent more weight than people who only slept five hours.
Raise another glass. That's water we're talking about. Most of us mistake thirst for hunger. Mark down how much water you drink in a day. Chances are you will be surprised at how little you drink. Add just two more glasses a day and you'll be amazed at the reduction in your appetite.
Move it and lose it. You don't just lose calories and weight when you exercise. Intense exercise changes the way your body craves food and can actually suppress your appetite. The breakdown that occurs during a hard workout can also raise your appetite but you tend to get hungry for the types of foods that will repair this damage. One of the best advantages of P90X® is that you are going to start craving "premium" quality fuelnaturally.
Taste the fruit of knowledge. The mighty apple may have gotten a bad rap in the Garden of Eden, but in the Garden of Eatin', an apple may be your best friend. Look for a big, delicious, juicy one and take a bite. This fiber-filled food will have you feeling full in no time.
Soup it up. Try having a broth-based soup before a meal or as a snack. You can even take your favorite veggie drink, put it in a coffee cup, nuke it, and enjoy a cup of satisfying soup that will fill you up and satisfy your desire for something warm, comforting, and yummy. Just beware of major-label soups as they tend to be high in sodium and use lesser-quality ingredients. As always, it's important to read the label.
More is less. In the case of meals, that's the truth. Eat small frequent meals to maintain blood sugar levels and keep your appetite and energy levels in control and on target for calorie consumption.
Skip rope, not meals. Especially breakfast. If you don't start the day off with a good breakfast, you wind up with low blood sugar, low energy, and irresistible hunger pangs, and the next thing you know, you are running over to a pizza box, your face is covered in crumbs, and you have severe pepperoni breath. Just remember, a good meal doesn't mean a traditional meal. Skip the lumberjack special in favor of a bowl of whole-grain cereal or a protein shake with some fresh fruit tossed in, Beachbody's Meal Replacement Shake, or leftovers from your healthy dinner the night before.
Eat your veggies. Yes, your mother was right, but probably for different reasons. Veggies are filled with nutrition, but they will also fill you up. Try a big luscious salad before a meal in a restaurant (instead of scarfing down the bread). Then have a favorite main dish, though you will want a lot less of it, and the rest you can take home for lunch or dinner the next day.
Whole grains rule. You aren't settling for less than what you deserve, and that means complete, healthy, whole grains. Choose the whole-grain bread, brown rice, and multigrain crackers (see #6 in Joe's article above for more on multigrains) over their anemic white and refined cousins.
Speed to succeed. You want a speedy metabolism and high performance when it comes to burning calories, and one of the best ways to get there is to slow down at the dinner table. That means actually taking the time to eat your meal. It takes your brain 10 minutes longer than your stomach to receive the message that you are full. Do an experiment. Tonight at dinner, find out how long you take to eat your meal. If it takes you longer to load the dishwasher, then something's wrong with this picture.