Trick Yourself into Eating Fewer Calories
Trick Yourself into Eating Fewer Calories
Trick #1: Choose "Slim" Glasses
Studies show that we unknowingly will pour over 25% more into a short wide 12-oz glass than a tall narrow 12-oz glass.
Trick #2: Invest in Smaller Plates
Moving from a 12-inch to a 10-inch dinner plate leads people to serve and eat 22% less.
Trick #3: Park the Candy Farther Away
Workers ate twice as many chocolate kisses (9 vs. 4) when the candies were on their desks than when they were 6 feet away. That’s a difference of 125 calories.
Trick #4: Choose Smaller Packages & Serving Dishes
People take more from larger packages. Given big buckets of popcorn they eat 50% more than when given medium buckets.
Trick #5: Pick Two at a Time
People eat far less when they are told to pick only two items on each trip to the buffet line with no limit on the number of return trips. A smaller plate helps!
Tricks above from Dr. Brian Wansink of Cornell University.
Trick #6: Get in Balance
An occasional large meal won’t throw you off course. The trouble comes when overeating becomes the norm—so habitual that you don’t even realize that you’re eating too much.
To avoid that trap, try these strategies:
Balance calories across the week. Lighten up a couple of days with soup or salad for dinner to balance heavier eating over the weekend.
Refuel regularly. Skipping meals may sound like a strategy to help you lose weight but generally it backfires. People who skip meals tend to set you up to be overly hungry and overeat later in the day. Eat meals about the same time each day starting with including breakfast.
Snack Attacks. Pack mid-meal snacks to keep energy levels up and ravenous hunger at bay. Watch our video on healthy snacking for more ideas.
Eat half of a large meal. And take the rest home in a doggie bag.
Trick #7: Stay in Balance—The 500-Calorie Solution
When "calories eaten" are greater than "calories burned" you will gain weight. When you consider it takes about 3500 extra (or unburned) calories to make a pound of fat, it’s easy to see how you can gain a pound in five weeks. It takes as little as one extra 8-oz soft drink (100 calories) a day!
Cutting daily food intake by 250 calories, then adding an activity that burns 250 calories, adds up to a difference of 500 calories a day. That’s enough to lose one pound of body fat a week. This is a great return for a small investment. Most of us would barely notice 250 calories snipped from our snacks and meals. And burning 250 calories is as easy as taking a brisk 40-minute walk (about 5,000 steps).
Switch to diet soda (saves 150 calories)
Walk 5,000 steps (40 minutes) (burns 250 calories)
Switch to mustard instead of mayo (saves 100 calories)
= 500 calories
Trick #8: Same Calories, Big Difference
Check out these calorie comparisons. You’ll feel fuller when you make the healthier choice.
