One of the most common goals we see in a person’s bucket list today is losing weight. But setting a goal and listing down steps on how to do it are two different matters. You need to be clear on the steps you are going to take in order to lose weight instead of just telling yourself to eat less. There are a lot of factors that may influence how much you eat in a meal, including the size of the serving, how hungry you are, how comfortable you are while eating and how healthy are you eating. This article will teach you how to eat less and how to manage the different factors that may affect the amount of food you eat.
How to Eat Less
Use small or blue plates
You may begin your diet by portioning your food, but you might feel like there’s too little food on your plate if you use the regular sized plates. Use smaller plates like appetizer plates in order to trick your mind that your plate is full. There are also studies that suggest persons who eat with blue plates are more likely to feel full immediately. Eating less is not all about forcing yourself to eat little but also includes some mind trickery. If you are packing your lunch when you go to work, it is also advised to use smaller food containers.
Keep the portion you will not eat
When there is so much food on your table, you are tempted to eat more. Once you have portioned your food, put back the portion you will not eat in the refrigerator because if they are just beside you, chances are you will serve yourself another portion. If you feel that the portion you ate was too little, you may eat fruits as your second serving.
Don’t finish all the food on your plate
This may be hard because all of us were taught to finish what’s on our plate and not to waste food. Break this habit by leaving a bite of your food on your plate. If you don’t feel like throwing away food, you may pack the left-over food for your next meal or for your lunch the next day to the office.
Drink liquids before meal
Studies suggest that drinking before eating is a good technique on how to eat less. When you are hungry, make your stomach feel that it is full by drinking water, skimmed milk, unsweetened coffee or tea, or a warm soup. Keep in mind that this method is only used to make you eat less during a meal and does not suggest that water may be a substitute for a light meal.
Ignore your cravings
Cravings are totally normal, but if you give in to this, you will lose your motivation to eat less. The best way to ignore your cravings is to distract yourself. Though cravings randomly happen in a day, they will only last for at least ten minutes. Distract yourself by reading a good book, surfing the net, doing some chores or even taking a nap.
Chew your food properly
Taking big bites and chewing fast makes your body feel hungry. So, do make small bites and chew your food properly. Use all the senses you can to enjoy the texture, the flavors and the smell of your food. This way, your body sends signals to your brain that it is satisfied, making you eat less.
Wear “somewhat” tight clothes
Another tip for your how to eat less dilemma is by wearing form-fitting clothes. Try wearing the buttons of your blazer or maybe a belt. This way, when you feel that your clothes start to feel snugger, you may want to stop and watch what you eat.
Eat vegetables
If you feel bad about eating less, you may still eat more but make sure to substitute meat with more vegetables and fruits. For example, you may replace half of your minced pork with mushrooms and stuff your meal with green leafy vegetables. This way, you are able to cut off from calories even without forcing yourself to eat less.
Set the mood to eat slowly
You may want to dim the lights and play a relaxing music in order for you to eat slowly and enjoy your meal. This will make your body digest the food faster and make you feel full. Put down your fork in between bites and drink water, this will make your meal time longer and pleasurable.
Don’t eat from the pack
Do you really know how much you eat when you eat from a bag of chips? Studies prove that you don’t. This is another very important tip for your how to eat less dilemma. When you seat in front of the television to watch your favorite movie and then you start to eat nuts from a tin can, the tendency is you just eat how much you want without noticing that you’ve finished the whole can which is supposed to be good for ten servings. In order to avoid this, do not eat from the can and instead, portion the nuts into ten resealable bags, and this way you are in control of how much you eat.
Portion the food on your plate
Another technique is to immediately divide the food on your plate if the portion is too large. Before starting to eat, use your knife or fork to portion your food into two. The first one is the portion that you will eat now and the other one is for your “take away”.
View All Comments /Add Comment