Whats less likely to derail your diet: a big bowl of frozen yogurt or a small chocolate chip cookie? If you guessed the cookie, youre right—and youre in the minority. In one recent survey, 62% of people said that the kind of food you eat matters more than how much you eat when youre trying to lose weight. But new research on portion control says thats wrong. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who shrank their portions by 25% slashed 250 calories a day—enough to help them lose a half-pound a week—and still felt full. Ready to downsize? Here are five easy ways to get started.
Most people typically overeat two or three favorite foods—usually pastas, breads, meats, snacks, or sweets, says Stacey Nelson, MS, RD, LDN, senior clinical nutritionist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. It may be that we love the taste, nosh mindlessly in front of the TV, or just hang on to a childhood habit. Nelsons tip: Get to know recommended serving sizes for your favorites, and stick to them as closely as you can.
“We eat whatever portion is placed before us,” says David Levitsky, PhD, an obesity researcher at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. So the trick is to avoid seeing more food than you want to eat.
Next Page: Shrink your plate to lose weight
Try eating dinner on smaller side plates; youll have less to eat. “When I eat off of a salad plate, I still feel full. It definitely works,” says Suzanne Rapp, 33, an equity trader in Boston who shed 10 pounds in less than three months.
Brush your teeth. Chew a piece of sugarless gum. Or sip a hot drink like tea or sugar-free cocoa. These rituals can be cues to stop eating and should help curb the impulse to indulge in seconds or dessert, Nelson says.
Overeating is often a psychological problem. These mind games may help.
- Think of meat and pasta as side dishes. For instance, fill half your plate with broccoli and cauliflower, a quarter with chicken, and a quarter with linguine.
- Imagine youre treating your body like a trash can when you polish off morsels you dont really want. Yuck.
- Many of us are programmed to eat in “units” (one sandwich, one yogurt, etc.), notes a new study in Psychological Science. If that sounds like you, stick to small units. Chances are, you wont go back for another—or back to your old dress size.
