Five Ways to Eat Fewer Calories

Are you trying to lose weight? Want to eat less, but don’t know how to break your habits? Try these painless tricks for eating less without even noticing.

Use small plates whenever possible. Or buy plates that are large, but have a wide brim with a colorful design on them, making the eating surface appear smaller. The trick here is to make your serving size look bigger than it is, which will help you serve yourself and eat less. You can do the same thing with bowls. Serve desserts in delicate, small dishes that will make your scoop of ice cream look bigger than it is.

Serve beverages in slender glasses. The tall glass acts as an optical illusion, making you think you've poured more than you have. Use low or no calorie garnishes (mint, lemon, lime, berries) to dress up your drinks, and use a low or no calorie beverage.

Restrict eating to the kitchen table. Make yourself set the table and sit down every time you eat and you’ll cut calories without realizing it. A lot of overeating happens while watching TV, working on the computer, or standing in the kitchen, just "having a little snack".

Sneak in vegetables. Because vegetables are usually high fiber and low calorie, you can lower the caloric impact of a calorie-dense meal simply by slipping in a few veggies. You can slip shredded carrots into just about anything, and most dishes will benefit from an infusion of chopped broccoli. You may find your family like the additional veggies in their dishes once they get used to them.

Help yourself develop a disliking for unhealthy foods. Rent "Supersize Me", and conjure up unpleasant parts of the movie when you're tempted to eat fast food. Do you find yourself eating hot dogs or brats? Look up what’s really inside those puppies. Fill your mind with positive thoughts about healthy foods and negative thoughts about unhealthy food.

Hopefully these pointers will help you eat fewer calories and shed pounds.