Resist sweets and tune out food cues by trying these science-backed strategies
By Hollis Templeton
Tune into the latest food news and you’ll learn that out-of-control portion sizes may be on their way out. Mars, the maker of M&Ms and Snickers, recently pledged to shrink the size of its king-size candy bars so that no treat exceeds 250 calories, for example. But don’t wait for food manufacturers to step in and save you from an expanding waistline (no food cop will stop you from eating two candy bars in one sitting). Self-control is still key, and new research points to a number of strategies that can help keep your appetite in line. Read on for the latest ways to cut calories, resist cravings, and recognize when your body is hungry or full.
Spring Clean Your Cabinets
Reorganizing your pantry may help you choose lower-calorie meals and snacks. When researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital color-coded menu items in the hospital’s cafeteria, sales of unhealthy red-coded foods dropped 9.2% while sales of green-tagged healthy options went up 4.5%. Diners were also more likely to pick up wholesome items when they were placed at eye level.
At home, designate a “green” snack drawer in the fridge or a “red” shelf in the pantry to help your family make better choices, suggests Anne Thorndike, MD, MPH, the study’s lead author. Place good-for-you foods at eye level or in easily accessible drawers and keep fattier fare on the highest or lowest shelves, in the back of the freezer or fridge, or even in the basement. “If you have to spend extra effort to get these snacks, you may decide they are not worth it,” she says.
Hone Your Hunger
The old adage “practice makes perfect” applies to everything—even eating habits. Obese and binge-eating-prone tweens and their parents were taught how to recognize internal signals of hunger and fullness by implementing a simple rating system in a University of California, San Diego School of Medicine study. After eight weeks, 81% of participants said they felt more in control of their eating habits.
Try the technique by rating your hunger on a scale of 1 (starving) and 5 (stuffed) before, during, and after meals, eating when you are at a 2 or 3 and stopping when you reach a 4, advises Kerri Boutelle, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. If you feel ravenous (rating = 1), eat a small snack, drink water, and wait 20 minutes before eating a full-size meal.
Taste with Your Eyes, Not Your Tongue
In the same UC San Diego study, another group of kids and adults rated their cravings as they stared at, touched, smelled, and took small bites of their favorite foods for up to 20 minutes, and then tossed what was left in the trash. After 8 weeks of practice, 69% of study participants said they had more control in the company of their trigger foods. At home, practice rating your cravings on a scale of 1 (no cravings) to 5 (irresistible cravings). Take note of how they increase at first and then disappear as time goes by, instructs Boutelle. “Most, if not all, cravings decrease within 15 minutes,” she says.
Swap Sweets for a Pair of Sneakers
Chances are, you’ve nibbled on a cookie or piece of chocolate to power you through an afternoon energy slump. Turns out a brisk walk around the block could have given you the boost you need—minus the calories. In fact, a 15-minute walk can cut a chocolate craving in half, according to researchers at the University of Exeter in the UK. In a recent study, regular chocolate eaters who exercised before sitting down at a desk to work consumed about 15 grams of chocolate (about the size of one fun-size candy bar) while non-exercisers snacked on roughly 28 grams of chocolate.
Don’t Be Fooled by Photos
Ever notice how flipping through recipes for gooey chocolate chip cookies or baked macaroni and cheese casseroles on Pinterest piques your appetite—even if you just ate? There’s more than a mind game at play. Food photos actually increase levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin, according to a German study. Researchers suggest that if you’re prone to overeating that you should limit your exposure to images of food, like those found in cookbooks, magazines, TV commercials, and so on.
Take Your Time
Procrastination rarely has a positive impact, but putting off a junk food snack until an unspecified time can help you resist during periods of intense temptation. When Portuguese researchers set out a bowl of M&Ms for college students who had just completed a series of tasks in a lab, those who were told while working that they could have the candy “later” ate less at the end of the session than those who snacked while working and those who had been advised to avoid the sweet treat.
Don’t Eat to Please
If you’re always the first person to raise your hand when your boss asks for extra help, you may be prone to eating more when you head to happy hour with your coworkers. In a Case Western Reserve University study, people who ranked themselves highest in terms of eagerness to please others ate more candy when they sat and talked to a peer, compared to those who considered themselves to be less zealous. Researchers believe that people-pleasers eat more in social situations as a way to make those around them feel more comfortable or to avoid hurting friends’ feeling when offered food. A simple solution: Think before you eat, and (politely) decline when necessary.
Ask for Half
If a restaurant offers half-size servings of entrees or sides, take the establishment up on its offer. Those who ordered half-portions of fried rice at a Chinese restaurant consumed an average of 200 fewer calories per meal in a study published in Health Affairs. Researchers believe it’s easier to exercise self-control before food hits the table, as many people feel guilty for not finishing everything that’s on their plate when dining out.
Do It for Your Health
Consuming more calories than your body needs may set lead to mild cognitive impairment (MCI)—a stage between normal age-related memory loss and symptoms seen in early Alzheimer’s disease—later in life, according to research from the Mayo Clinic. Among more than 1,200 study participants ages 70 to 89, those who ate between 2,100 and 6,000 calories per day were more than twice as likely to have MCI as adults who consumed fewer calories. Additional research suggests that caloric restriction may also help lower your risk for developing asthma, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes.
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