You can lose weight without dieting by changing a few of your habits. Of course, you still can’t increase your consumption of unhealthy food like pastries and sweets or highly processed food like burgers and fries. You can reduce your calorie intake with simple changes, like chewing slower. When you eat too fast, it doesn’t give your stomach time to message the brain it’s full. Chewing your food longer helps you eat less before that happens. It decreases food intake and is a simple way to lose weight.
Increase your protein intake.
Protein takes a longer time to digest and makes you feel fuller longer, which causes you to be less hungry so you eat less at the next meal or don’t snack between meals. Eating protein at breakfast, rather than cereal, can keep you full until noon. Consider an egg instead of just a bowl of cereal or toast. Studies show increasing protein consumption is linked to weight loss.
Trick your eyes with smaller plates.
Using smaller plates makes you feel like you’re eating more, but it’s just an illusion. It’s a great idea if you go to a buffet. Use a small dessert or salad plate for each trip. Eat slowly and if you go back for seconds, you’ll probably get less food. If you use a big plate, make it for lower-calorie foods, such as vegetables and salads. When eating in a restaurant, opt for healthier baked or grilled food, rather than fried.
Make your own food at home.
You can create healthier meals and get an additional bonus, dividing them up into individual serving sizes. Restaurants are businesses that need to make money to survive. They often use less healthy options when they cook to reduce the cost. It may be why a 2017 study found that people who made meals at home tend to gain less weight than others who eat in restaurants frequently.
- Just like protein, fiber fills you and keeps you feeling full longer. Foods high in fiber are also lower in calories. Soluble fiber feeds beneficial microbes in your gut that can also help you lose weight.
- Drink more water. A glass of water before a meal can fill that empty spot in your belly and help you eat less. It also can boost your metabolism and increase your energy so you burn more calories.
- Get more sleep. Lack of sleep causes the body to make more ghrelin—the hunger hormone—and less leptin—the one that makes you feel full. Adequate sleep helps you eat less. It can boost your energy level so you burn more calories.
- Cut out soft drinks, including diet drinks. Studies show that diet drinks can add inches to your middle, while the high sugar content of regular soft drinks packs on the pounds. Drink more water, unsweetened tea, and black coffee.
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