Eat with awareness

Okay, so it’s unrealistic and unnecessary for you to always avoid doing other things while you’re eating, but at least try to limit the distractions. Whether you have lunch at your desk or you’re engrossed in conversation at the dinner table, the key is not to swallow forkful after forkful mindlessly. Otherwise you’ll finish your meal and still feel hungry.

Try this exercise during a snack break: Sit down with a piece of fruit. Take a bite: chew slowly, noticing the flavor and texture. Next, challenge your awareness. Swallow the next bit fast, pretending you‘re gulping down lunch at work. Eat a few more while you serf the net or watch TV. Then concentrate entirely on food again. You’ll see how it’s more satisfying when you actually focus on it. Do this with all your meals and you’ll eat less without feeling one bit deprived.

18. Go ahead – have your favorite foods.

Just practice downsizing the less-than-healthy ones. Decide how much smaller you can go – if you typically eat a bowlful of ice cream every night, scoop out a half-cup serving. Then determine how often you’ll have the food – maybe Wednesdays and Fridays instead of nightly. Because you know you can treat yourself regularly, you won’t feel like you’re missing anything and will be less likely to overindulge when you do eat it.