In January, I lost 14 pounds. I can’t really say what caused the reduction in weight but it was probably a combination of things including
1. Not drinking any calories
2. Eating less candy
3. Starting out at a higher-than-usual weight
I also upped my running miles by 1 mile a day.
February
But when February came along, I gained back a few of those pounds. I was still 10 pounds lighter but I definitely gained some back. Now March is upon us and I’ve gained even more back.
What happened?
Well, I started drinking calories again. And the weather made it tougher to run fast so while I’ve been keeping up the mileage, the intensity is down a bit. Also, the glow of the new year has faded and my dedication to losing weight has dimmed too.
But I’m always searching for tricks to help eat less and thus keep the pounds off. Here are 6 simple things you can do to eat less. Since that website is onerous, I list them here for ease of reading.
1. Use a smaller straw. Bigger straws have been shown to make people drink more. And drinking more caloric drinks means drinking more calories.
2. Eat smelly foods. Food that smells bad (like some cheeses) makes you eat less.
3. Use a plate with contrasting colors. Studies have found that when you eat from a plate that is a different color from your food, you naturally eat less. Interesting.
4. Slow down! The faster you eat the more likely you are to eat more. So, be sure to put your fork down and chew before moving on to the next bite.
5. Make it smaller. Use a smaller plate and you will likely eat less food.
6. Dim the lights & music. People have been shown to eat less when the room is darker and it is more quiet.
And I’ll add a bonus one since lighter jogglers are faster jogglers.
7. Write down everything that you eat. When you think about how much you are eating, you’ll be more prone to stop eating so much.
Enjoy!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I think writing down everything you eat is good advice. It seems like it might also help to save money if you wrote down everything you buy.
Great idea!
I’ve heard a good NPR story about a book explaining the power of “cues” in our culture that promotes unhealthy eating. One strategy is, get rid of visual cues that make you want to eat something unhealthy. Hide the good stuff, basically. And, learn to read cues (emotional, behavioral, etc.) that tend to trigger overeating.
I do this by not buying any of the “bad” stuff. So if it’s not in my house I can’t eat poorly. That seems to work for me.