How Can YOU Eat Less--10 TIPS that Work for Me

Losing weight is a simple matter, so how come it is so hard to do? 

On a daily basis, if you burn off more calories through exercise and just being active than you consume through eating, you'll lose weight. 

Being active and exercising is easy for me, but I love good food so keeping the calories down is the biggest problem. The trick is to eat less.

How do I do this?  Here's 10 tips that work for me:

      1. Learn that you are full before you stop eating. Left over from more primitive days, we all have a human survival gene called the "thrifty gene" which encourages us to keep on eating even when we are full. Stop eating before those last few bites of mash potatoes, wait and the desire to eat will go away. 

      2. Cut back on fat. Fat has 9 calories per gram as compared to 4 calories per gram for carbohydrates and protein. You can eat the same amount of food while automatically cutting back on calories.

      4. When you eat out, order two appetizers instead of one appetizer and a main dish, or simply order the main dish and no appetizers or share an appetizer. Skip the desert or if you must, share it. If you aren't too embarrassed, ask for a "doggy bag" before you start eating, and put a portion of your meal into the bag ahead of time. Don't eat the roll or bread and butter before the meal begins. 

      5. Have a light soup before your main meal, or better yet, have soup as the main meal. Soup makes you feel full on fewer calories.

      6. Drink a large glass of water before you eat. You'll be less hungry.

      7. For heaven's sake, slow down. Enjoy every single bite, chew it, and savor it. To slow things down even more, set your fork down between bites. Twenty minutes after your first bite of food there will be sugar in your blood stream; you'll feel full regardless of how much you've eaten.

      8. Don't ever let yourself get extremely hungry. Another primitive instinct is to overeat when we are really hungry. Don't skip meals and learn to eat healthy, low calories snacks between meals. 

      9. Eat by Yourself! After 30 years of overeating and obesity research, psychologists at the University of Toronto have concluded that regardless of how hungry, social clues can dictate how much you eat--usually too much. In groups as small as two people, you will tend to eat 30% to 50% more than if you were alone. So eat alone or be more aware of how much you are eating when you are with others. 

      10. Notice when the flavor is gone and stop eating. You'll be amazed that after a bite or two of ice cream you really can't taste it anymore. Your taste buds are numb but your stomach is on autopilot. Stop eating for a moment, your desire will go numb as well.  

Comments

[Edith Leigh]

Hi Greta,

Just thought you might find it interesting to know, the human brain takes about 20 minutes after consuming food to recognise the stomach is full...this is why it's so important to eat slowly!

[Jeff Arnold]

Great Advice Greta, Keep posting more.

[Jo]

Wonderful tips. Thanks a lot!

[Carol]

Drinking a glass or more than a glass of water before you eat works for me as I noticed that I get full easily. Great tips!