It’s basically impossible to have only one potato chip. When presented with a bowl of chips it is our deepest human instinct to eat at least five more handfuls after that initial chip. The vast majority of Americans struggle with limiting how much they eat per meal. In this day and age of fast food instant gratification, corn syrup, and fad diets, what easy way is there to control the way we eat? Here’s a list of four simple ways to limit what you shove into that face hole everytime you sit down to a meal.
Avoid Empty Calories
Not all calories were created equal. When it comes to the potato chip the reason you can’t stop munching is because your body knows that although you’re taking in many calories you’re not taking in many nutrients. To compensate for these empty calories your body continues to signal your stomach to continue eating. The same goes for most simple carbs, refined sugars, and processed junk food. It may be tasty but it is also much easier to over-eat.
Meal prep for a week
Preparing a week’s worth of food is not just a good way to limit portions but also a good way to save money. Meal prepping is one of those habits that is a win-win in terms of health, time, and portion control. Buy your ingredients at the beginning/end of the week, then change up the flavor every day or so by adding a variety of contrasting spices to the mix.
Brush your teeth
This is one of the more unique (yet lazy) tricks. One way to make sure you’re truly done eating is to brush your teeth immediately after a meal. Humans tend to be lazy creatures, we like to do as little as possible. If we brush our teeth immediately after the meal, we know it’ll be too much of a hassle to get more food afterward AND THEN brush again after that.
Use a Tiny Plate
Look at your plate set at home. Typically we reach for the largest plate we can find, simply by virtue of habit. But do we really need to fill all that space on our plates? Not really. Avoid extra calories by fitting everything onto a small plate, perhaps even a teacup saucer. Even shopping for children’s sized plates equipped with lines for portioning can be super useful.
Eat Before you Party
Remember those potato chips? Well they’re sitting right there on the table at your friend’s birthday between the sodas and the cake. More often than not the worst foods are found at parties and get together’s. The best way to avoid the endless munchies at a party is to come to the party having already eaten. If you come slightly full, you’ll leave half as guilty.
Food is one of the best parts of being human, so we should savor what it is that we do choose to eat. Making the right decisions in terms of nutrition and portion are necessary, but not always easy. Using these clever tricks can help people fall into better habits with what they eat.
