Ways to Eat Less
Discover healthy ways to eat less and you won't ever need to believe these messages:
"Lose 25 kilos in one week with the grapefruit diet!".
"Drink only water and starve yourself to lose 5 kilos in 24 hours!".
"Take our customized pill and lose weight instantly by eating cheeseburgers, pizza, and fries!".
Stop the madness! You probably know that diets are not the best way to lose weight and keep it off.
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Fortunately, there are simple ways to eat less, feel full, and healthily lose weight. Since most people eat portions that are too large and consume more calories than necessary, eating less will return your body to its most natural state and you can lose weight in the healthiest way possible.
The good news is that you won't even feel hungry-exactly the opposite of what we are aiming for with these healthy eating tips!
Let's take a look at ways to eat less, avoiding fad diets and unhealthy and potentially dangerous miracle fat loss programs.
1) Engage with people who don't overeat.
Nicholas Christakis is a physician who works for Harvard Medical School. He says weight gain is a social network like Facebook. His research shows that the likelihood of becoming obese increases by 57% if you have overweight friends.
The likelihood of being obese increases by 40% if you have an obese sibling. As social animals, our friends and family influence us through our choices and actions. You can start eating less by socializing with people who eat less.
2) Use smaller plates and bowls.
It's all about perception. This includes how your eyes perceive the amount of food you eat. People tend to fill their plates. So if you use smaller plates and bowls, you will naturally have less space. If you use a much smaller plate than you usually do and fill it up, you are showing that you are eating a healthy, large portion.
In this way you can eat less, fooling your body into thinking you are overeating. This can lead to healthy weight loss without having to resort to unhealthy diets and potentially dangerous diet pills. You won't even feel like you haven't eaten enough!
3) Remember Red, Orange, and Green for Healthy Eating
Include at least one or two foods of these colors during your big meals. When you focus on red, orange, and green foods, these tend to be healthy fruits and vegetables more often than not. Combined with the tip above, this leaves very little room on your plate or in your bowl for higher-calorie items.
Plus there’s another huge benefit: the more colorful vegetables and fruits do a great job of keeping your skin looking younger and healthier.
4) Use Taller, Slimmer Glasses
It is effortless to cut down on liquid calories by choosing taller, slimmer glasses. Rather than short, squat glasses and cups that may hold the same amount of beverages, tall, slender glasses benefit from the fact that height makes things look more massive. As with the tip about plates above, you unconsciously think you are getting more liquid calories than you are.
5) Get Salt Out of Your Life
Salt is a fantastic preservative, so it is found nearly everywhere in processed foods, and often in far too sufficient a quantity. The typical American ingests more than twice the amount of salt they should take each day.
Excess salt in your body can lead to weight gain and promotes the inability to lose weight. It can also actually make you feel thirstier and hungrier. Cut down on your salt intake drastically, and you will find yourself eating less and possibly even losing weight.
6) Drink, Drink, Drink… and Drink Some More!
You’ve probably heard of the many studies that show that just adding more water to your diet helps deliver so many excellent health benefits. And did you know that when you do not get enough water, this leads to retaining unwanted and unneeded water weight?
It sounds crazy, but when you get around 64 ounces of H2O every day, this helps take up space in your stomach. Accordingly, you will eat less when you feel fuller while taking in far fewer calories. Everyone is different, but if you drink a small glass of water before meals, you will find yourself eating less.
7) Listen to Your Body and Stomach
One of the simplest ways to eat less is, to be honest with yourself. You may have developed bad habits when you eat and think that particular times of the day require a big meal. But are you really hungry?
If you find yourself ready to eat only because the clock on the wall tells you to, drink a small glass of water and wait 10 to 15 minutes. If you still feel as if you could eat, make sure you do so sensibly, and then combine this strategy with tip number eight below to eat less and sensibly lose weight the healthy way.
8) Take Just One Less Bite Per Meal
Right when you think you're about to finish your meal with one last scrumptious forkful, walk away before you do. Did you know that you can save roughly 75 calories each and every day by merely eating one less bite during every meal?
That is a full 8 pounds of healthy weight loss by eating a little less every meal. If you start doing the math, two fewer bites, spoonfuls, or forkfuls will knock out an incredible 16 pounds of unneeded weight every year.
9) Eat Where Your Food Isn’t
Serve your plate away from where you will be eating. When you place food within arm's reach of where you are enjoying your meal, it is merely second nature to reach for seconds, and possibly even thirds, even if you aren't starving. Place the cooked food on the stove or kitchen table and place it on a small plate or saucer.
Then enjoy your meal in a comfortable setting where you cannot see possible additional servings. This naturally causes you to eat less, allowing you to regulate your caloric intake and promoting healthy weight loss consistently.
10) Spice Up Your Life!
The British Journal of Nutrition is just one of many respected health organizations that have proven the importance of hot spices to curb hunger. And in one crucial piece of research, they conducted, researchers from the State University of New York at Buffalo found that capsaicin tells your brain to release endorphins which make you feel good.
Capsaicin is found in extremely high quantities in chilies, so when you spice up your food, you can feel good and eat less, a beautiful and healthy combination. (Just be careful not to overdo it if you’re not used to spicy food!)
11) Eat Soup Before a Meal
This is a favorite trick of Doctor Oz, who says that he and his wife will eat a small bowl of soup before they head out on the town for dinner. Researchers at Penn State University agree that this is an excellent way to eat less. Their research showed that subjects who ate low-calorie vegetable soup before meals tended to eat 20% fewer calories at that meal.
A small bowl of low-calorie broth-based vegetable soup before your biggest meal of the day helps you reduce calories as well as lose weight, without feeling hungry. Salads also work similarly, as long as you don’t use high-calorie dressings. (Check out tip number thirteen for the importance of 20% fewer calories per meal.)
12) Paint a Mental Picture
Why are you trying to lose weight? Odds are, it is to become healthier, and also to regain the slimmer and sexier body you once had. Keep a mental picture in your mind of exactly why you are trying to eat less and lose weight, and your subconscious can help you when your willpower is weak.
13) Eat 20% Less Than You Serve Yourself
It is pretty easy to eat less, and not even notice it when you consume roughly 20% less than you serve yourself. Save the leftovers for a snack another day!
Coupled with tip number two above, this is a healthy way to ingest fewer calories. Also, since you are taking in fewer calories per meal, you can afford to eat several times a day. That leads to our next healthy eating tip.
14) Eat More Frequently
This may sound like it goes against what you are trying to accomplish. After all, aren't you trying to take in fewer calories every day? Sure you are, but health professionals and fitness experts for decades have known that eating three main meals and two or three small "snacks" throughout the day is the healthiest way to eat less and promotes proper digestion and other healthy bodily functions.
15) Put Snacks Out of Sight
Pretty straightforward information here. If you cannot see fat-laden, sugary, and calorie-rich treats, you eat less of them. And over time this could help you cut out these unhealthy snacks altogether. Eventually, you’ll want to stop even having them in the house – that way you’ll never be tempted!
16) Get Plenty of Protein for Breakfast
Breakfast as a healthy first meal of the day has been touted for decades. The truth is, focusing on a breakfast high in protein is the only proven way to suppress your appetite. This also has been shown to cut down on further eating throughout the day drastically. Forget the waffles, bread, and milk at breakfast. Eggs are a great source of protein, as are most meats, so incorporate them into your breakfast.
17) Eat Less By Doing the Math
One effective way to eat less which is so much healthier than dangerous fad diets and other "get thin quick" pills is to know how much you are eating. Everyone is different, but the average female requires around 2,000 calories a day to maintain her current weight. The average man needs no more than about 2,500 calories a day. Keep a journal (or download a free app on your smartphone), start calorie counting, and you can't help but eat less.
18) Turn off Your Television, Smartphone, and Computer
Distracted eating leads to overeating. Eat less and do it the healthy way, cut down on your sensory input, and focus on your meal. You can more properly regulate how many calories you take in. Give your meal the proper attention, and you will find yourself eating less than when you do so in front of the box.
19) Never Let Yourself Get Overly Hungry
Tip number fourteen above will help you here. It is tough to keep from overeating when you are famished. So plan your main meals and small snacks throughout the day, spaced two or three hours apart to ensure that you are never starving.
When human beings are hungry for extended periods, their brains tell them to hoard food. This leads to massive overeating and could cause unhealthy weight gain and other problems. You can eat less and lose weight using this tip when you plan your meals and snacks ahead of time.
20) Chew Your Food Thoroughly
Multiple studies have shown that most people do not chew their food enough before swallowing it. Your stomach is marvelously designed to break down food into waste and usable nutrients.
But years of eating too fast and not properly chewing your food can create multiple health problems, and it also tends to make you eat more during your meals than you would if you chewed your food thoroughly.
21) Don’t Overestimate Calories Burned Through Workouts
Okay, admit it. You feel fantastic when you work out, whether it be an intense physical activity like serious weightlifting or a brisk walk. This leads many people to believe they have burned more calories than they have. Eating correctly after your workout can only be accomplished by knowing exactly how many calories you have burned up.
There are multiple charts online that show you just how many calories everyday activities and exercises burn away. Eating less may be as simple as being honest with yourself about how many calories your jog around the block used up.
Recent figures show that two out of every three men in England, and 58% of all women there, are overweight or obese. And in the United States, research released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells us 69.2% of all adults 20 years of age and older are overweight, and 35.9% of those Americans are obese.
This only means that many of us are eating more than we need to, and not eating healthy foods.
Follow the 21 tips above, and you will find yourself not only eating less and losing weight the healthy way, but you will have more energy, become more productive, and live a longer and happier life.
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