Trick Yourself Into Eating Less by Imagining Eating the Whole Bag [Mind Hacks]

By Melanie Pinola Oct 18, 2011 9:00 AM 9,853 15

Overeating is all too easy to do if we don't plan ahead to avoid overeating or pay attention while we eat. Our imaginations, however, can be a great tool for preventing us from eating too much.

Whole Living Daily advises that the next time you're so hungry you could eat an entire bag of chips, imagine yourself actually finishing the whole thing; this little trick could prevent you from overindulging. A study published in Science found that people who visualized eating a lot of M&Ms wound up eating fewer of them than those who visualized either doing a mundane task or eating just a few M&Ms. The theory:

the act of imagining helps acclimate the brain to whatever food you're craving, so that you are less motivated to eat more when you actually eat it

Photo by Pretty Poo Eater.

Prevent Overeating with a Simple Trick | Whole Living Daily

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