Smaller plates = smaller you!
Put your meals onto smaller plates. Eat small snacks if you get hungry. Keep it low carb and spicy! Three ways to a smaller you!
Can you trick yourself into losing weight? I think you can. It sounds simple but that’s because it is. Use smaller plates and fill them well and you’ll feel far less deprived than cutting portion sizes and eating off normal-sized plates.
I never use my dinner-sized plates now. I only ever eat off side plates or medium-sized ones and I fill them with a bit of greenery to make my meals look more nourishing.
We eat with our eyes as well as our noses. Smell and look are incredibly important when you’re trying to eat less but not feel deprived. It’s also vital you enjoy your food. There’s nothing worse than cutting calories only to find a meal doesn’t satisfy you enough or you don’t enjoy it. That way lies the binge! You eat more to make up for a sense of missing out. Then you feel bad because you broke your diet so you may as well continue eating, chasing a good feeling which never comes.
Eat what you like on a diet. This matters more than anything else and is, I believe, the real key to success. You are sacrificing satiety for a slimmer, healthier, you. But you need to kid your brain that you’re not really making any real sacrifices. Dieting is about psychology as much as it’s about physiology.
So buy the food you love best. Don’t stint on the housekeeping IF you can afford to buy well. In fact I’ve often found my food bill goes down when I’m sticking to a diet. So I can afford to eat quality as I’m eating less quantity. I realise this isn’t easy if you’re feeding a family on a low budget but maybe think of dieting as a way to budget? Good food goes further.
Cut the carbs if the weight isn’t coming off. Replace carbs with protein. Especially do this if you get snack attacks in the afternoon, or whenever you do. A piece of toast may be calling to you, or a biscuit or bar of chocolate. Have a piece of cheese, chicken, ham or olives instead. Fill up on protein and you’ll feel full for far longer. My favourite snacks at the moment are small pieces of Edam, beef salami, fat olives and tomatoes. Utterly delicious and enjoyable. And fewer calories than a bar of chocolate. All the walking I do makes me crave salt now more than sugar and a salt craving is far easier to satisfy than a sugar one.
Don’t eat too much fruit. I know we’re told we should have five portions of fruit and veg every day but fruit is high in sugar and it won’t do nearly as good a job filling you as a piece of Edam or couple of ounces (56 grams) of chicken. Never ever eat fruit on an empty stomach. It’ll have the same effect on your blood sugar as eating a bar of chocolate and you’ll feel more hungry, not less. For me fruit is like drinking alcohol. I only ever have it after a meal, never before or between meals. It’s why fruit forms part of many starters - it’s there to stimulate the appetite not fill it. The best fruit for a dieter is berry fruit as it’s lower in sugar than other fruits.
Spicy foods also help me stick to my diet. Especially if I’ve made the dish myself. The kitchen fills with sweet-smelling fragrance and making your own meals means you control what’s gone into them. Homemade food goes further IF you are self disciplined enough to cook for you and your freezer or ‘fridge if you’re having it the following day. It’s lovely to go out for the day knowing tea is already made and all you have to do when you get home is warm it through. Ideal as the darker Autumn nights approach.
Spicy foods are great for dieters because you get a longer afterglow than you do from something bland. You want to feel full after eating for as long as possible. So chilli and curries are your friends. If you don’t eat meat you can make a vegetarian chilli or curry. Even if you do eat meat, vegetable chilli is just as delicious as the meat version and has far fewer calories. And there are many vegetable-only varieties of curries. You can also make spicy casseroles. Hot warming food in the cold weather is something to look forward to as Summer passes into Autumn.