Smart foods to keep fit

Apples: Eat an apple approximately a half hour before a meal — the fiber and water from the fruit will fill you up, so you’ll eat less, says Debra Wein, RD, president of Wellness Workdays, a provider of worksite wellness programs.

Avocados: Eating half of an avocado with your lunch may help you feel full for the rest of the afternoon, according to a study published in Nutrition Journal.

Soup: According to Beth Saltz, RD, owner of nutritionskitchen.com, soups can take the edge of your appetite since they take up a lot of volume in your stomach, but with very few calories.

Dark chocolate: When you’re craving something sweet, eat dark chocolate. Research suggests dark chocolate can help reduce blood pressure and protect the heart and brain. It’s also more filling than milk chocolate and may help curb cravings for both sweet and salty foods, according to a study.

Eggs: Start your day with eggs to leave you satisfied until lunch. Research from the University of Missouri at Columbia suggests that eating a 300-calorie breakfast made up of 30 to 39 grams of protein (eggs and sausage) reduces hunger pangs and increases fullness during the time between breakfast and lunch. The research also revealed that high-protein breakfast eaters consume fewer calories throughout the day.

Oatmeal: Replace cereal with oatmeal. Oatmeal will keep you feeling fuller longer, suggests a study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition. Oatmeal is higher in fiber and protein and also has higher amounts of beta-glucan — the sugars that give oatmeal its heart-healthy properties, hydration and molecular weight compared to ready-to-eat cereals.