Leaf Lettuce

Folks, I am sure that a lot of people struggle with the issue of overeating. I know that I do. Therefore, I have found it necessary to implement what I call my 'first line of defense' against the tummy that rumbles in league with my ravenous appetite and weird hormonal cravings with screams of 'Let's eat everything in sight!'

Leaf Lettuce! It's simple, good for you and very filling. And the best news of all ... it contains very little calories and can be eaten in very large quantities before a meal so that you won't want to eat very much of that more caloric food! But you have to be willing to eat the lettuce before you consume anything else on your regular dinner plate for this to work for you. Chances are, if you fill up on leaf lettuce first, you won't want to eat your dinner until at least an hour later, which will give you time to get your hunger monster under better control.

Leaf lettuce is not Romaine lettuce (nor does it have as many calories), but it resembles it to some extent. It is not as tasteless as Iceberg Lettuce and neither is it round like it's iceberg cousin. Leaf lettuce is only 4 calores per cup shredded (you do the math and measure it all up to about 100 calories) and you've got yourself a LOT of lettuce, Folks! Give yourself a whopping 100 calories of leaf lettuce prior to the dinner or lunch meal and you will find yourself eating a whole LOT LESS THAN IF YOU DID NOT EAT IT AT ALL!

But DO NOT put your usual salad dressing on your leaf lettuce or you will totally defeat your purpose! Please refer to my chapter on salad dressings for some low-calorie (even calorie-free) salad dressing alternatives that are tastier and less expensive than your store-bought stuff with all those preservatives your body could well do without!

I often find that two or three packets of Truvia sweetener, a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, some dill weed, garlic and coarse-ground black pepper do the trick to dress up my leaf lettuce when I'm extra tempted to go for that rich dessert!

Chances are, if you can't see your way to eating that huge bowl of lettuce prior to your meal, YOU'RE NOT REALLY hungry to begin with and you might as well PUT THAT FOOD DOWN and do something else with your time - providing it's not meal time. If you've not eaten in four hours, you might want to eat your leaf lettuce, though. Don't let that blood glucose drop and undermine your weight management efforts! Oh, God forbid!

Happy Eating!