Cathal BarryFive simple ways to eat less food
It has been said that portion control is key to maintaining a healthy weight. Here are five simple ways to get yourself to eat less food without any struggle.
Start meals with green vegetables or salad
Try starting every meal with green veggies or salad and you will eat fewer calories overall, while getting a more nutritious meal. Drinking a glass of water or tea before chowing down has also been shown to reduce food intake.
Why it works: As long as you see and eat the same volume of food, you are likely to feel full and satisfied despite the lower intake in energy. Plus, vegetables are rich in indigestible fibre, which slows digestion and makes you full quicker.
Trick yourself with smaller plates and 'out of sight, out of mind'
It seems impossible that we can outsmart our amazing brains by eating with smaller plates and bowls, or hiding foods, but these are well known tricks in the world of food psychology.
Another unique trick is that eating off red plates leads people to eat less than if they used blue or white plates.
And keeping food out of sight, or simply out of reach, also lowers calorie intake.
Why they work: People generally donít have a clue how much they eat, and their ability to recognise fullness and hunger are poor. We are easily fooled by size illusions, which is why small dishware works.
The colour red elicits avoidance motivation that acts as a subtle message to stop eating. Finally, 'out of sight, out of mind' works because it requires increased motivation to get the food and makes us more mindful about what we are putting in our mouths.
Take care of your gut by eating probiotic foods
The bacteria in your gut have a rather profound effect on how much you eat and how many calories your body absorbs.
For example, taking antibiotic drugs will shift the composition of your gut bacteria so that your body is able to absorb a greater amount of calories from carbohydrates, which it then converts to body fat.
What to do: Avoid antibiotics whenever possible and eat plenty of probiotic foods or taking a good quality probiotic supplement.
Avoid packaged foods – calorie counts lie
Calorie labels for everything from almonds to processed foods like cookies, bread, frozen dinners, and ice cream significantly underestimate calorie content.
One reason for this is that energy content of food is typically based on a calculation of the calories in raw food, but heating or processing the food will significantly increase the calories present.
What to do: Best bet is to avoid all packaged foods and eat whole foods, fitting raw produce into your meals regularly.