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5 ways to eat less

5 ways to eat less

Do you often regret fifteen minutes after eating because your belly is too full? Time for some simple eating management.

1. Eat mindfully

British researchers showed that people who are distracted eat up to thirty percent more than people who eat consciously. So make sure that you don't do other things during a meal, but that you pay full attention to your food. The first-bite rule can help you be more mindful and prevent overeating:Focus on the first bite you take, and ask yourself if each bite is as tasty as the first. Is the answer halfway through your plate 'no'? Then stop eating. The book 'mindless eating ' is highly recommended in that regard.

2. Put down your cutlery after every bite

Only after about twenty minutes can your brain give the signal that you are satiated. Because of that 'slow' reaction you sometimes still feel hungry when your board emptied within ten minutes. So it's a matter of wasting time and procrastination! A smart way to eat a little longer and therefore more consciously:put your cutlery down after every bite. Only after you have really swallowed everything do you pick up your knife and fork again.

3. Serve up a smaller portion

You tend to eat more if you are presented with larger portions (or packages). That's what behavioral economists at Erasmus University Rotterdam say. We unconsciously link the portion size to the amount that is "decent" to eat, even if it may be too large for you. It is considered polite to empty your plate. The result:the larger the portion, the more you eat.

4. Eat with your 'wrong' hand

According to research from the University of Southern California, eating with the wrong hand can reduce your calorie intake by 30 percent. By eating with your left hand as a right-hander (and vice versa) you make it a little more difficult for yourself – and as a result you eat less quickly.

Read also: Bibian had her stomach shrink:“I will never forget the first time I tried on a size 36”

5. Use smaller plates and larger forks

The larger the circumference of your plate or bowl, the more you scoop. The portion that is on it then appears smaller (the so-called optical illusion). This is according to research by the University of Groningen. If you replace your plates with a diameter of 30 centimeters with plates of 25 centimeters, you even lose some weight, according to the researchers. Remarkable:for forks the exact opposite applies:the bigger, the better. Subjects with a larger fork ate less on average than subjects with a small fork. With a small fork you feel less food in your mouth, which makes you eat more fanatically.

Water first, the rest comes later

Drink a glass of water before eating. This way you are full faster, because your stomach is already partly filled.

Image:Getty Images

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