12 Ways To Trick Yourself Into Eating Less

Sure, you want to lose weight, but you really don't have the self-control to diet effectively. If you can't trust yourself to eat healthier, then you'll have to trick yourself. Read these tactics and try to determine which one will work best on you.

The Right Environment

A psychological trick to eat less is choosing the right setting and mood. Research has shown that people who eat in dim light with soft music usually eat 18% less, that’s a little less than 200 calories! This type of setting creates a relaxed mood, which helps you slow down and really enjoy your food, making you eat less!

Pack Your Own Lunch

You tend to consume less food and calories when you have a pre-packed lunch. When you eat out you have less control over the ingredients and portion size. When you make your own lunch you choose what and how much food goes into your body. Try packing salads and sandwiches more and cutting back on going out for lunch to about once a week. Plus, you will save way more money!

Think About It

Before you go for that afternoon snack, ask yourself if you want food because you are hungry or because you are bored. If it’s the latter, try to take your mind off of food and engage in a different activity. Another trick is to think about what you had for lunch. Research has shown that remembering what you last ate decreases your appetite.

Pack On The Protein

People who count calories usually stray away from meals with a lot of protein since they general contain more calories, but that is the exact opposite of what you should be doing. Protein fills you up faster and gives you more energy so you don’t need to mindlessly snack during the day. Add chicken to your salad or make a yummy quinoa salad with black beans and corn!

Divide and Conquer

Do you love to relax after a hard day by lounging on the couch with the remote and your favorite snack? Do you usually finish half of the family sized bag before you realize you were eating way too much? We’ve all been there. The slim trick is to divide a big bag into small snack sized bags. This stops you for mindlessly eating too much and your snack will last longer.

Limit Your Choices

Next time you’re at the store, pick up a smaller variety of healthy foods. Choosing between many different things takes a lot of energy, depleting the amount of energy you have available for strong will power. Less will power is no good when trying to pick out a healthy snack. If you don’t have as many options you won’t have to make a hard decision.

Blame Dehydration

Hunger can sometimes be confused with thirst. Before you go for food, drink a glass of cold water and wait ten minutes. If you still feel hungry then your body needs calories. Sometimes the hungry feeling is just triggered by your body’s need for water. Also, drinking cold water throughout the day keeps is great for your metabolism!

Cut Back On Sugar

If you reduce the sugar you eat by just 2 teaspoons a day, you can save yourself 5 pounds of sugar a year! An easy way to do this is to switch from sweet cereal, like Honey Nut Cheerios, to a non-sweetened version, like original Cheerios. If you’re a big fruit juice fan you could be drinking a ton of sugar without realizing it. Try watering down your juice to reduce your sugar intake.

Spritz

It is too easy to be heavy handed when pouring salad dressings and oils. To save yourself from all those extra calories invest in a spray bottle. This will prevent that “oops” moment when you accidently pour way too much into your dish. They make salad spritzer bottles, but instead of buying a new one every time you run out of dressing, save the bottles. Buy a regular bottle of salad dressing and pour it into the spritzer bottle to save money!

Half and Half

For every meal, try to fill half of your plate with vegetables and fruit. A quarter cup of veggies is about 10 calories, whereas the same amount of starch is 50 calories. This cuts down on the room you have left for higher calorie foods, like carbs and meat.

Start Off Strong

If you are eating at a restaurant start off with a low calorie option before you get to the main course. Try a green salad, roasted veggies, or a broth soup. These foods will stop you from stuffing your face with bread and you over eat on your entrée.

Think Small

This is an age-old trick but it really works. Eat your food off smaller plates. We have a natural tendency to file up available space. With a smaller plate you have less room so your portions will be smaller, instead of oversized.