Want to curb your appetite? Use these 7 helpful tips to eat less!

EAT FIBER: Unrefined foods, especially those that are high in fiber, stimulate appetite-suppressing hormones and make you feel full

BRUSH YOUR TEETH: Take a break from eating to brush up. The minty flavor of toothpaste helps you resist eating more.

BE CONSISTENT: Eating breakfast and regularly scheduled meals keeps hormone levels steady and quashes hunger pangs

EAT SLOWER: It takes a while for the brain to realize that the stomach is stretching. Eating slowly gives the brain time to catch on.

FEWER CARBS: Carbohydrates make you hungrier. Load up on fats and proteins.

PORTION CONTROL: Smaller portions mean fewer calories are taken in, so less fat gets stored. A point system assigns a value to portions of all sorts of foods to help tabulate—and limit—daily consumption.

MEAT FREE:  At nine calories per gram, fat is more than twice as dense as protein and carbs. Thus dieters can consume the same amount of food but still lose weight if they eat less fat. Focusing on complex carbs like whole grains helps stabilize blood sugar, and lots of fiber increases satiety.

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Some people hate them and others love them, but you're better off loving them. Given the fact that I'm a vegetarian recently gone vegan, beans have come a major staple in my diet. I've learned how to use beans in several different ways ranging from soups, salads and entrées. If you're still underestimating the greatness of beans, don't be so quick to disregard them, in fact Web MD has named them 'Nature's Perfect Food'. Why? you ask.

THE BENEFITS:

• Bean eaters are associated with smaller waist sizes and a 22% lower risk of obesity. They also take in less "bad" fat and one-third more fiber than those who avoid these nutritional gems.
• One cup of beans provides a whopping 13 g of fiber--which is half of what we need daily--with no saturated fat.
• Beans are loaded with protein (about 15 g per cup) and dozens of key nutrients, including a few most women fall short on--calcium, potassium, and magnesium.
• Beans also fill you up and keep you full. Studies have shown that eating foods high in protein and fiber will keep you sustained the longest.
• Studies also tie beans to a reduced risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and breast and colon cancers. And surprisingly, red, pinto, and kidney beans are the highest antioxidant food, beating out both blueberries and cranberries.

Now that you're convinced that you should be eating more beans, you'll need to know how to shop for them.

• Buy canned they're just as healthy. You may have heard that bagged beans are best, but they need to be soaked and then boiled for hours before they're ready to eat. Who has the time or patience for that? Bagged beans are generally less expensive (about $1 per 16-ounce bag versus $1.50 for a 15-ounce can) and have no added ingredients, including salt. But canned varieties, which are ready to eat, can be just as nutritious.
• Go for low sodium. Canned low-sodium beans are exactly the same price, with two-thirds less sodium. That's a decrease from about 720 mg per cup (a third of the daily max of 2,300 mg) to 220 mg. Rinsing beans in a colander under cold water for 1 minute will wash away about a quarter of the sodium.
• Look for vegetarian versions. Choosing vegetarian refried beans reduces the saturated fat content from 16% of the daily value to zero per cup and adds a bonus 2 g of protein--and they taste just as delicious. Amy's Organic Low Sodium Refried Beans are my favorite vegetarian option.
• Avoid dented or bulging cans. Small dents and dings are okay, but if you find a badly dented or swollen can in your cupboard, or if a can spurts liquid when opened, toss it out right away using disposable gloves. These are all possible signs of botulism, a potentially deadly form of food poisoning that generated canned-food recalls as recently as last summer. If you're ever unsure, think, When in doubt, throw it out. For more on food recalls, visit recalls.gov/food.html; for info on how to discard contaminated cans, check cdc.gov/botulism/botulism_faq.htm.

Now you know how to buy beans, but you should know which beans are the best and why? It's always great to have variety.

• Black: Rich in anthocyanins, the same heart disease– and cancer-fighting antioxidants that are found in grapes and cranberries.
• Garbanzo (chickpeas): A recent study found that a chickpea-fortified diet slashed “bad” LDL cholesterol levels by almost 5%.
• Kidney: The thiamin (vitamin B1) in this bean protects memory and brain function; a deficiency has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
• Navy: Potassium regulates blood pressure and normal heart contractions.
• Pinto: Fiber helps stabilize blood sugar, lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes.

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Have you heard of Apple Cider Vinegar tablets for weight loss? Despite the fact that this diet has been around since the 1970's, I actually had no idea that it even existed until just the other day. The fact that I have never heard of this fad diet prompted me to do some online investigating. After googleing around I found two opposite result types. Those trying to sell the product make several promising claims that ACV is good for blood pressure, cholesterol control, diabetes and weight loss to name a few of the supposed benefits. On the other hand there are many skeptics who challenge these claims because there is absolutely no scientific evidence proving that AVC can aid in weight loss. I'm sensing that AVC is yet another diet scam, aimed to make money off of those desperate to lose weight.

I'll conclude with the wise worlds of Andrew Weil, M.D. ,"If you want to lose weight, forget about apple cider vinegar. Weight loss requires effort and commitment. The only formula you can depend on is eating less and exercising more."

Have you had an experience with Apple Cider Vinegar? CLICK HERE to sign up for my new Be Fit Forums and discuss this topic!

Today I tasted Yogi Tea Green Tea Slim Life for the very first time. I am very impressed with the smooth flavor of this tea. Studies have shown that green tea it's self can aid weight loss. In addition to the natural metabolism booster, this Slim Life version includes garcinia to help suppress your appetite as well as ginseng and eleuthero to provide you with extra energy.

Enjoy with a splash of soy milk for some extra flavor!

This product is available HERE at the Be Fit Store!

These 7 useful tips will help you to stay full longer:

Whip up a side of potato salad.

Surprise! White potatoes aren’t the dietary demons Atkins devotees led us to believe. Potatoes contain a type of starch known as natural resistant starch that acts a lot like fiber once it’s in your digestive system, according to Katherine Beals, PhD, RD, a nutrition professor at the University of Utah. That means they make you feel full longer, keep your blood sugar level after a meal, and may even reduce body fat.

But there’s a trick to maximizing this benefit: Chilling cooked potatoes nearly doubles the amount of natural resistant starch in a serving. Try an Italian-style potato salad. Boil peeled, sliced potatoes until they’re fork-tender; drain, and toss them with salt, pepper, and your favorite red wine vinaigrette. Cool the salad in the fridge, and garnish it with chopped parsley before you dig in. Not a spud fan? Try black beans (or any other bean) or split peas, warm or cold, for the same benefit.?

Front-load your day’s calories.
We all know that breakfast helps keep your waistline trim, but here’s more solid proof: In a recent study, University of Texas at El Paso researchers found that people who ate break-fast took in five percent fewer calories over the course of the day. That’s only about 100 calories (if you typically eat the 2,000 calories per day recommended for adult women), but, over time, it adds up. Saving 100 calories a day for one year equals a loss of more than 10 pounds. Experts estimate most of us eat 20 percent of our daily calories at breakfast, 30 percent at lunch, and 50 percent at dinner. “You would probably be better off shifting more of your total daily calories to the morning,” says lead author John de Castro, PhD. If you can’t stomach a bigger breakfast (keep it healthy with a combo of low-fat protein, whole grains, and fruit or veggies), add a mid-morning snack (a container of yogurt, some fruit and a few whole-grain crackers, or half a sandwich).

Pull out the blender.
Froth beats fat. This is one of the best and least-known discoveries of professor Barbara Rolls, PhD, author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan. Rolls found that study subjects who drank smoothies and other drinks blended for at least twice as long as necessary ate 12 percent less?—?and felt fuller—than those who drank beverages blended for a shorter period. Why? Blending is a no-calorie way to increase serving size by adding air. Adding low- or no-cal ingredients to entrees (such as lettuce and tomato on top of turkey burgers or alongside broiled fish) has a similar effect: They work by increasing the amount of water instead of air.

Fool your sweet tooth with scent.
A whiff of vanilla may be the antidote for your craving for a double dip of Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream. Here’s the theory, according to experts: The inherent sweetness of vanilla sends neuropeptides (gut-to-brain messengers) into a kind of sensory overload that fools you into feeling like you’ve satisfied your sweet tooth. Any vanilla scent?—?extract, body lotion, or a candle?—?has a similar effect. A special spray designed to curb appetite may work, too. One to try: Scentology’s Crave Control (read more about here), which was developed by Rachel Herz, PhD, a psychologist at Brown University’s Medical School and author of The Scent of Desire.

Stock up on lentil soup.
According to a new study from The Cochrane Collaboration, an independent health-research organization, people on diets that call for fiber-rich, complex-carb-loaded foods like lentils, sweet potatoes, and apples lost a little over two pounds more in five weeks, compared with people on low-fat or other types of diets. These foods rank low on the glycemic index (GI), which means they’re less likely to cause blood sugar spikes and leave you feeling hungry.

>>Get a list of food low on the glycemic index.

Snack smart.
By now, you know that snacking doesn’t have to be a bad thing for your waistline. But did you know that the right snacks can actually suppress ghrelin, the hunger hor-mone? James Kenney, PhD, nutrition-research specialist at the Pritikin Longevity Center and Spa in Florida, says low-calorie, nutrient-rich foods like strawberries (49 calories a cup), broccoli (20 calories a cup), and sweet potatoes (103 calories—and ready in a microwave minute) are your best defense. “They make you feel satiated on a lot fewer calories than Pringles do,” Kenney says.

Breathe hunger away.
Stress causes your body to pump out cortisol. And this, ultimately, creates a resistance to leptin, a hormone that helps you feel full. As a result, says Mark Hyman, MD, integrative-medicine specialist and author of Ultrametabolism, the more stressed out you are (and the more often you feel that way), the less able you are to tell when you’re full. Short-circuit the problem with this stress-reducing breathing exercise: Exhale fully, counting to 5 as you release tension from your body; let your shoulders slump as if you’re a deflated balloon. Then, count to 5 as you inhale gently, fully, down through the lungs into your belly; hold for a 4-count. Exhale again, repeating the first step. Continue for 5 minutes; practice a few times each day—or whenever you feel inclined to make tracks to the snack stash.

SOURCE: Health.com