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Fill Up Without Filling Out
 How can we be satiated before we're stuffed? Researchers have discovered that the weight, volume, fiber content, and nutrient makeup of food all help set in motion physiological processes that contribute to the agreeable sensation that follows a sumptuous meal. Foods high in fat are slow to trigger satiation signals because they're low in weight for the number of calories they deliver. You're likely to take in far more calories from high-fat foods than from protein and carbohydrate foods before you feel full. The foods researchers have found to be most efficient at quenching the appetite are fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and fish.
High-fiber foods -- beans, corn, broccoli, brown rice, apples, dried fruit, and the like -- are particularly good at filling you up without filling you out. They pack a lot of volume for their calories, and they hang around in your stomach longer, delaying the time when you feel hungry again. While a three-ounce, 470-calorie cheeseburger fits in the palm of your hand, you'd have to polish off a plate crowded with two ears of corn, a baked potato, a cup of carrots, and a cup of cooked spinach to approach the same number of calories.
Fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and fish. Okay, you might say, but what do you do with these appetite-quenching foods, separate them into bland piles on your plate? Not at all. One of the secrets to getting friendly with food is learning how to use ingredients in mouth-watering combinations. And the combinations from Nature's bounty are endless. The gifts of Neptune? Try your shrimp grilled with garlic and fresh peppers, your scallops broiled with lemon juice and a splash of olive oil. Or try going to a sushi bar. Wondering what to do with those highly touted beans? Puree some chickpeas with garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice and you'll have a creamy hummus spread for rye crackers or celery sticks. Toss some cannelloni beans into a tomato sauce spiced with garlic and minced anchovy, or small bits of prosciutto, then serve it over a smaller portion of pasta than you might otherwise eat. A baked potato without the butter and the sour cream? You obviously haven't sampled the perfection of a spud topped with salsa. A plateful of vegetables? Roast them in a little olive oil and garlic, sprinkled with fresh rosemary or thyme -- pure ambrosia by the winter fireplace or on the summer deck.
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