by Shaz Slaughter

Created on: March 14, 2009

We all know that the key to weight loss is to burn more calories than you put in your body. The simpler way to say that is to eat less food. Of course you could get a scale and weight your food or look on the labels and add up the calories, but seriously who wants to spend time doing that? What's worst is even after you count the calories and finish eating, you still feel hungry. So how do you control your food portions?

The real question people do not take into account for is "how can I eat less food without still feeling hungry?" The answer is you have to allow your body to feel full.

When I say allow your body to feel full I mean slow down and eat. Everyone knows how to eat, what many people do not know is it takes about 20 to 30 minutes for your body to realize it is full. So if you inhale your food in 15 minutes you still think you are hungry and you go and get some more food and end up putting more food in your body than you actually needed.

To counteract filling your body with more food than you need is very easy. For your next meal, whatever it is, take one bite of it, put the fork down and chew the food 25 times, pick up the fork and repeat. The reason you chew the food so many times is not to make it mushy or to make it easy to swallow but to allow your body the chance to realize that food it coming down. You will be surprised how much food is left on your plate if you chew each bite 25 times.

Another way you can eat less is by using smaller plates. As silly as it sounds for many people they continue to eat because they still see food on the plate. If the plate is smaller then obviously you can not fit as much food on the plate. Now many of you are probably thinking "I can just get up and put more food on the plate".

That is very true. You can get up and walk all the way to the stove or refrigerator, put move food on the plate and walk back to where you came from. The fact of the matter is I welcome this idea because not only are you giving your body time to realize how full it actually is you are getting exercise, albeit very little exercise, in the process. The reality is you will probably not want to get up too many times just to get more food.

These simple tips will help you easily control your food portions and in the process maybe even lose a few pounds. By slowing down to eat and using smaller plates over time you will be able to identify the correct food portions you need for your body instead of stuffing your body with extra calories you don't need.

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