Are you usually the fastest eater on the table? You might want to slow down because the quicker you eat, the wider your waist will be. An experiment by the University of Rhode Island proved that eating food over a time period of 29 minutes made participants eat lesser calories than those who wolfed down their plate of food within nine minutes.
The women who ate their food quicker also felt hungrier after the meal, which means they had more calories throughout the day. Sounds familiar? Whittling that waistline can be as simple as setting your utensils down between bites and chewing your food fully before swallowing.
READ MORE:
Ways To Use Your Overripe Bananas
5 Things You Never Knew You Could Do With Banana Peels
Waking Up With A Puffy Face Every Morning? Eat These 5 Foods To Reduce Water Retention
We’re getting major Snow White vibes from this tip. An experiment by the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation concluded that people who sniffed an apple, banana or peppermint more frequently stood to lose more weight.
It was found that these smells curb your appetite. Next time your hunger strikes, try smelling one of these things! You just might get a waist as thin as Snow White herself.
Your diet is much safer if you have a reflective mirror facing your dining table.
Lead Researcher from the University of Central Florida came to the conclusion that people tend to be more conscious of their appearance and the quality of what they are eating.
Looking at themselves in the mirror while eating unhealthy foods makes them feel like they have failed at healthy eating. So now you know not to shy away from those mirror facing seats at your favourite restaurant!
An electric blue dress might be stunning for your next brunch date but the same can’t be said about your food.
Research from Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab shows that people tend to put 22% lesser food on their plates when the hue of the plate contrasts with the colour of the food.
With blue being such a striking colour, it stands out while making your food look less appetising. Blue is also a rare colour for food to have so your blue plates will always contrast with your meals. Who knew that eating lesser was as simple as changing the colour of your plates?
There might be a science behind taking pictures of your food before digging in. It’s called social media management, something millennials are on board with. The thought that your food choices are up for your followers to see increases your responsibility to adhere to diet-friendly foods in the right quantity.
But, if you’re not one to have an Instagram or Facebook account, keeping a photo diary of your food also helps. Who wants to take a picture of a greasy bag of fries instead of a colourful plate of salad?
If you absolutely do not want to indulge in any sugar during your diet, studies have shown that a vanilla scent suppresses your appetite, as it reminds you of the smell of sweet things such as dessert.
According to Dr Oz, the sweet scent of vanilla calms the part of your brain which is responsible for your cravings. So if you have a sweet tooth, it’s time to buy a vanilla flavoured…candle to satiate your mind, not your stomach.
Having here or take away? Don’t opt for the latter or you stand to gain some (or a lot) of extra calories. Packing our food home, be it at a fancy Italian restaurant or Macdonalds, creates a sense of comfort, causing us to order more food than we actually need.
Director of Cornell University Food and Brand Lab says that when people eat alone, they tend to eat three times more than what they normally would.
Eating in public however, makes you more mindful of what you eat and how much you order. So instead of making it an upsized meal with an apple pie and large coke to go, eat there and stick to your portions.
Having kaya toast for breakfast, noodles for lunch, and a rice plate for dinner might sound like a pretty acceptable meal plan, not forgetting the drinks and snacks in between meals. But, add the calories up and you might be horrified with the final number.
Use a simple application like FatSecret that is catered to Singaporean foods so that you can easily keep track of your calories.
Counting calories is often labelled as being pretentious but it serves as an important guide for you to stay within your daily intake. Count, and weight loss is guaranteed!
Sometimes, you have to fail to succeed. I’m sure we’ve all had days where we ignored our cravings only to indulge in them (in full force) later.
So if you are craving for chocolate cake, allow yourself to have a tiny slice instead of giving up on your diet and devouring half a chocolate cake later. Lisa Mozkovitz, CEO of NY Nutrition Group says that it’s alright to give in to our cravings, as long as we stop feeling guilty about it and proceed with our healthy eating schedules after that.
It’s better to satisfy your craving the moment it begins, rather than allowing it to grow into a full-fledged food monster!
In Singapore, every MRT station is pretty much at a walking-distance from one another. You could meet your friends for lunch a few stops away from your place and spend some quality time with them during your walk home.
Because booking a cab burns no calories! Also, walking is the easiest way to increase your daily number of steps. Let’s say your walk home takes about thirty minutes- that’s about 4 000 steps.
Research from The International Journal of Obesity finds that people who have office desk jobs have a higher waist circumference than those who stay active all day.
It also states that walking 15 000 steps a day is an ideal way to stay active- and slim. So instead of taking public transport, why not walk there?
Text: Shape Singapore