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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Make Tiny Changes to Your Eating Habits for Big Results [Health]

By Melanie Pinola Oct 11, 2011 7:30 AM 26,913 35

Can cutting just ten calories a day make a big difference in your health? The Food Network writes that easy, small changes like cutting out a packet of sugar in your coffee that you do consistently can help you achieve big goals.

Many small steps you can take to improve your health can be done in only a few minutes. As an example, if you have only 1 minute:

Order salad dressings or gravies on the side and rather than pouring it on top of your food. Dip your fork into the dressing before you take a bite, that way you will get a taste of dressing with each bite, but you'll consume less dressing by the end of your meal.

Another example for losing weight is cutting down on coffee if you tend to drink it with cream (or switch to low-fat milk).

The key is doing these small changes every day so you can see improvement in the long run.

Check out other suggestions from the Food Network link below or tell us, what little things do you do or have you done to improve your health and life? Photo remixed from an original by Mr. T in DC

Make One Small Change: A Manageable Approach to Food, Fitness and Life | Food Network

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