Small Ways to Watch What You Eat
By Genevieve Cunningham
Watching what you eat is never a fun task. It requires discipline and dedication, and oftentimes, it’s also time consuming and frustrating. If you count calories, you may have to constantly input your info into an app or write it down. If you use a food journal, you’re constantly tracking every little bite. Who wants to do that? If you’d like to try to watch what you eat without all that hassle, check out these very small ways to reduce your food intake.
Use a Smaller Plate
Your eyes can really play tricks on you. If you use a big plate, you’re more likely to get yourself a big helping. We’re accustomed to filling our plate. If you switch to a smaller plate, you’ll fill your plate again, but the helpings will be much smaller because your plate simply won’t allow it. This is a super simple way to reduce your mealtime calories with very little thought or effort. Just make sure that you don’t go back for seconds or it will defeat the whole purpose.
Fill Up With Water
Every time you feel the need to grab a snack, reach for a glass of water instead. Oftentimes, what you’re actually feeling are thirst pains and not hunger pains. Drinking water may satisfy the craving, and if not, it’ll likely fill you up enough so that your snack will be smaller. This is easy to do, but it’ll take some self-training on your part. Be disciplined with this one, and you’ll see the results in no time.
Apply the 70-30 Rule
This can be tough for a lot of people. The 70-30 rule requires you to eat only 70 percent of what’s on your plate, and then leave the rest alone. Why is this so tough? Because once that food is on the plate and in front of you, it can be tough to resist. If you have the willpower and self-discipline, this can be a great way to limit your food intake and cut calories overall. Then again, if you go with a smaller plate, you might not have to worry about it.
Watching what you eat doesn’t have to be super difficult. There are so many things that you can do to lower your caloric intake without giving it too much thought. Use these tips, and make them into habits in our everyday life. Before long, they’ll be a breeze, your weight will lower, and your health will improve for a lifetime of better well-being.