Appetite control, weight loss, and healthy eating can all be influenced by your subconscious mind.
So why not play a few tricks on your subconscious? Not only can you use these five powerful calorie control tricks to trick your brain into eating less food, but you can make yourself feel fuller, faster and resist the urge to eat more.
Here's how:
Calorie Control Trick #1: Use Smaller Utensils & Dishes In the video above, I show you how the size of the bowl, plate, or spoon that you use can significantly influence how much food and how many calories you consume. In THIS study 'Ice cream illusions bowls, spoons, and self-served portion sizes.' , 85 nutrition experts who were attending an ice cream social were randomly given either a smaller (17 oz) or a larger (34 oz) bowl and either a smaller (2 oz) or larger (3 oz) ice cream scoop. After serving themselves, they completed a brief survey as their ice cream was weighed.
Even when nutrition experts were given a larger bowl, they served themselves 31% more without being aware of it. In addition, their servings increased by over 14% when they were given a larger serving spoon.
In THIS study from University of Pennsylvania ,psychologists conducted an experiment in an upscale apartment building in which they left out a bowl of the chocolate candies with a small scoop.
The next day they refilled the bowl with M&M's, but used a much larger scoop and when the scoop size was increased, people took 66 percent more M&M's!
So use smaller plates, bowls and utensils, even if somebody laughs at you for eating your soup with a teaspoon.
Calorie Control Trick #2: 'Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind'
Whether you're eating dinner at home, at a party with snack tables or out at a buffet, there is a simple rule that multiple studies have confirmed: the less exposure your eyes, ears and nose have to food, the less likely you are to eat too many calories.
For example, unless we are eating outdoors, for dinner my wife or I will plate the food and bring it to the table, but leave any larger dishes, pots, pans or bowls full of food on the countertop or on the stove, where we are less likely to reach for them and grab a second serving.
You can use this same trick in many other ways, such as:
-At parties, don't park next to the snack table, but instead socialize farther away from the grub
-At buffet restaurants or regular restaurants, seat yourself farther away from the kitchen, the bar, or other food displays
-Keep any snacks or tempting sweets in opaque (non-transparent) containers or places where they're not readily accessible in your home
-Shove any tasty, tempting food to the back of the refrigerator or pantry, and bring the healthy food to the front
Any of my energy bars, sweet exercise drinks, or other sugary, tempting treats are kept in two inconvenient places: the garage, and a door in the bottom of my bedroom closet. This ensures I'm much less likely to eat empty calories.
Please come back tomorrow for part 2.
Ben Greenfield has been coaching athletes for over a decade from the website http://www.pacificfit.net, and is author of the modern triathlon coaching manual, "How To Be A Triathlon Coach," at http://www.triathloncoachguide.com.
Follow on twitter @everymantri or view latest videos on YouTube.
