4 Secrets to Eating Less – Tips That Really Work

by | Jul 19, 2011 | Health Habits, Nutrition Support, Uncategorized

Eating Secrets

Every client who consults me on obesity related issues will invariable ask “How do I eat less?” Here are some “secret” tips to eating less:

Always eat from a plate

Opened a bag of chips? Pour no more than a fistful into a plate and eat from a plate – never directly from the bag or you will end up single handedly eating the entire contents of the bag. Follow this principle for all other packaged food items. Similarly if you have purchased some cooked food at the local diner, or have a ready to eat package, never eat directly out of the container. Remember, the portion sizes being sold are larger than required. So open the container, put no more than half into a microwaveable dish, heat and eat. Discard or put away the rest.

Always buy individual portion sizes

When you feel the urge to eat ice cream, go and buy an individual serving such as a single ice cream cone rather than half a gallon to be eaten at home. If you buy a single serving portion and eat it right there, your urge for ice cream would be satisfied. Most obese people eat too much to satisfy a small urge. Remember, to satisfy an urge to eat something, you just need a very small portion.

Wait to converse with your stomach

As you eat, savor the food you are eating. Contemplate on the aroma, the taste, try and identify individual flavors. Eat at half your usual speed and once you’ve reached there, slow down even further. Learn how to understand your stomach – because the stomach is busy churning and breaking down the food, it tends to be a bit slow in conversing so if we slow down our eating process, our stomach gets the opportunity to signal that it is full.

Our body knows the precise amount of food that is required. This is communicated to the stomach which in turn communicates with the brain to stop eating when target is met. All we have to do is not stuff ourselves like an automated conveyor belt. Slow down, keep small gaps of 30 seconds between mouthfuls especially after you’ve eating a quarter of what was on the plate.

Leave something on your plate

You don’t have to eat everything… Let’s face it – there is no shortage of food in America. People say “don’t waste food because there’s someone starving in Africa or Asia”. I ask you, if you eat everything on your plate, how is it going to help some starving kid in Africa or Asia? I simply fail to see the logic of eating everything on the plate. If you are full, stop eating. You don’t need to ‘polish off’ the plate.

If you have difficulties sorting out the portion distortion and you;re not sure what a proper portion is, consider buying one (or more 😉 ) of our stylish portion control dinnerware sets or at least, plates – just stay within the lines and you are good!