How To Eat Less: These 10 Pointers Could Be Really Effective!

Make A Meal Plan Ahead Of Time

When you plan nutritious meals ahead of time before going grocery shopping, you’ll be better able to resist the temptations of the BOGOF junk food displays.

If you’re going out to supper, look up the menu (as well as nutritional information, if available) online ahead of time. Planning a meal ahead of time may take some time but researchers have discovered that If one adds and plans about what to eat it may lead to control hunger due to some satisfaction.

Planning a meal could be explained when one is at a dining table in a restaurant and giving orders, trying to plan what to eat as starter and course food. Basically if one tries to have more of course food it may cause them to eat more. Therefore try to have vegetable soups and salads as a starter which may reduce hunger and make one feel full. Due to the veggie soups and salads, there would be less intake of course food which may include fat and calories items, thus, may cause them to eat less.

Another way could be to have more veggies at half of the plate which are nutritious and calories free. The vegetables may provide more proteins, the fibre in the body and could control hunger. Thus reducing the craving for pasta and other calories. Instead of a pizza large enough to feed a family of four, one might want to treat themselves to a nutritious appetizer and a “small” dessert. Alternatively, one might arrange healthier options for the next day if they want to have a “blowout” supper or evening out.

This may be looked at as planning the breakfast before going to bed and making preparations regarding these things. Due to these techniques, one may devote more time to the food value and its quality. For example, if one adds more flavor, taste and varieties to the food it may force them to eat more and gain more calories. But planning a meal may help them to avoid any such benefits in the food and thus causing them to eat less.

At last planning, a meal before eating may help to have a nutritious chart and to eat fewer items.

More info here.

Make Your Kitchen More Organized

This technique is about creating a conscious, balanced attitude to eating, not crash dieting, so you don’t have to give up all your snacks. However, it is a good idea to hide the ‘naughtier’ delicacies to avoid mindless munching and to preserve them for when one truly wants to enjoy them.

Making the kitchen organized could be an alternative to hide and remove unwanted food items from the kitchen. Such as removing the snacks which are of no more use or hiding those snacks which one gets to see can’t control themselves to eat or may lead to breakage of the diet.

Once there is an organized kitchen the hygiene won’t allow one to search the snacks and ruin the cleanliness. This may help to control the craving for food. This may also help to follow a diet and work accordingly without seeing unwanted things and making one distracted from the goal.

There are often many times one may skip having fruits and juices or salads or soups because the things are unorganized in the kitchen.  The up keeping of fruits and vegetables in the fridge in an organized way such as by keeping fruits in the centre of the fridge won’t let one forget to have it which may help to feel full for a long time and reduce the need to eat the course meal much.

Increase Your Intake Of Protein

Protein could take longer to digest than carbohydrates, hence you’ll be fuller for longer. According to studies, eating a high-protein breakfast (think eggs and beans) leads to less calorie consumption throughout the day.

Here are some of the healthy breakfast ideas.

Having a protein-rich source in a diet or on a meal per day basis won’t allow you to feel hunger frequently thus causing you to eat less. For example, if one has fruit such as apples early in the morning before breakfast which is a good source of protein and fibre so it won’t make them feel hungry for much time and the person may have fewer things in the breakfast causing them to eat less.

These high-protein foods could also help you in improving your protein intake throughout the day.

According to various research, it has been found that protein food contains fewer calories and more fibre may lead to more time at the time of digestion. It’s suggested to have protein-based food especially plant-based food In each meal which may tend to eat less.

If you’re a vegan or vegetarian who finds it difficult to eat protein-rich meals, protein smoothies can help. Protein powder has numerous advantages, like providing an energy boost, helping you feel fuller for longer, and making it simple and enjoyable to meet your protein goals.

More on it here.

Smaller Dishes And Bowls Should Be Used

People serve themselves a third more ice cream when offered a larger bowl, and half as much again when using a larger spoon, according to research.

Smaller plates, bowls, and utensils might deceive your brain into believing you’re eating more than you were. If your ice cream skips the bowl totally and goes straight from the tub to your mouth, start using individual portion-controlled pots.

There have been many types of research regarding this technique and it has been found that when a person gets more food at a larger bowl and the same food at a small bowl they tend to eat less in the small bowl with a full level of satisfaction as they feel they ate according to their appetite with the full amount.

For example, if salads are being served at a large plate the person tends to take more amount of bites to complete and thus eat more of it whereas if there is salad on the small plate the less quantity would be served to lead to less food intake that too in small bites. Thus it may act as an effective way to eat less.

There has been much research which found that if in small plate large forks are being served then the food intake is less causing to eat less or if in the big plate the large fork or spoon is being used then the food intake would be comparatively less.

This is because if they have a small fork one may take larger bites to hold it whereas in a large fork one may take small bites. It may be recommended to use chopsticks which may also help to eat less because of the fewer bites. Therefore one should be selective about the size of the utensils being used to serve the meals which may affect the bites intake.

More has been talked about the plate size and weight, here.

Blue Dishes Are A Good Choice

Take heed before you go on a mini-crockery shopping binge. According to studies, eating from brightly coloured plates and bowls causes us to consume less food. It’s thought that the color contrast between the dish and the dinnerware is to blame.

Bright crimson or electric blue are good choices. It may be because of the rays of the colors giving different effects on the mind and the eating habits.

For example, one may find that in restaurants they serve in contrasting colors utensils like glass and plates of different colors which may be attractive and could lead to distraction causing them to eat less because of distraction and color contrast. The image of color dishes may serve as an effective way to eat less.

More on food shopping here.

Imapct of three different colours has been discussed here.

Reduce Your Intake By 20%

Most people don’t notice if they eat 20% more or 20% less than normal. So, if you normally cook a 100g quantity of pasta, reduce it to 80g. While you’re at it, try adding 20% more vegetables to your plate to fill you up while also increasing your nutrient intake.

It may be suggested to people who have a weight loss routine aim and dive in to lose weight by this they may reach some miles. It’s seen that if a person reduces their intake by 20% every week it may help them to lose weight by eating less.

It may not be recommended to eat less in each meal or daily. For example, if a person is eating 10% less today than yesterday in one meal then try to maintain this 10% for a week since the body needs to adapt to these changes and too many changes may cause harsh effects to the health.

This may be understood by some examples as to when one is having a full plate of course meal with more unhealthy food item then they may reduce it to some extent and may add veggies to it which may add nutrients and inbuilt the less eating habit.

Change Your Snacks

Do you get hungry in between meals? If you’re worried about snacking, water and chewing gum have been discovered to serve as appetite suppressants and can help you eat less.

To keep hunger away between meals, try fruit and vegetable snacks, healthy snacks or protein-rich snacks like protein bars or protein balls.

There have been researching showing that if one add veggie in the snack time such as fruits or salads leading to the nutritional benefits it may help to eat less because fruits and vegetables are rich in fibre which may help to feel fuller for a longer period and thus preventing frequent eating and may help cause a healthy diet. The change in snacks may stop one from being hungry and chewing every time anything.

More info here.

Drink A Lot Of Water And Try To Stay Hydrated

According to various research, it has been found that the human mind is unable to differentiate between feeling hungry and feeling thirsty. Often it happens that our body needs water but being unable to distinguish between hunger and thirst one intake more foods and keeps on eating at each frequent t interval in place of having water.

It’s highly recommended to have at least 8 ounces of water regularly to keep the body hydrated and enable the body to distinguish between thirst and hunger. If the body has enough water then one may feel less hungry due to a full stomach and could lead to eating less.

It’s suggested according to researchers to have a glass of water during the meals so that the half of the stomach may be filled with water to avoid eating more that may help in proper digestion.

More on hydration here.

Avoid Multitasking While Eating

It has been found that doing different tasks while eating may cause you to eat more and feel more hungry because of the mind being engaged in different tasks which may cause distraction. For example, it is usual to see people having their breakfast by one hand scrolling phone by other or watching television and eating at the same time due to this half Of their mind is diverted towards the phone or television and they finish their meal with a larger bite and at fast way feeling more hungry and thus having more foods.

Now if there is no other task to do and only eating is the only task then the complete mind will be focused on the chewing and one may be able to have smaller bites and be able to finish the meal properly by eating less due to less distraction and focus on the eating system. Thus, Having a change in mindfulness may cause one to eat less. If one is just having its meal and feeling more hungry they may question whether it’s hunger or thirst? I’m I hungry or just want to eat? By having such questions and choosing the proper decision to have the right thing to eat at the right time one may be able to eat Less.

Tow of the reference pointers is discussed here and here.

Chewing Gums And Taking A Bite At A Time

Having sugar free gums that continuously chew them may help one to avoid unnecessary eating habits and to control them. For example, one may have a habit to eat and always have something in the mouth. It may be difficult for them to have control over their eating habits or to eat less.

For those kinds of people chewing gum may be beneficial to avoid and get out of those habits and to feel fuller and longer in the stomach thus leading to eating less. It may also be found not to take too many fast bites at a time while eating that is taking a bite at a time and smaller bites may help eat less as they may be well digested and could help feel fuller and longer for some time.

The same has been confirmed by this write-up.