When there is delicious food in front of us which deceive us with their looks and aroma it is very hard to stop yourselves from eating “just another bite”. The result is overeating which we regret about later.

Uncontrolled eating has bad effects not just on our waistline but on our energy and mood as well. Even though no one wants to be a couch potato, many of us will not say “no” to a delicious food.

Overeating can be prevented with the following simple tricks:

1. Use your palms as a guide. The amount of food you are about to eat should fit into your palms (figuratively speaking). Put your palms together as if you were making bowl. The amount of food that fits into your palms is probably enough for your stomach as well.

2. When you feel fed, make the handles of the cutlery dirty. Many people want to eat everything they have been served, which leads to overeating. By making the cutlery dirty you will not be able to just “have another bite”.

3. Cover the rest of the meal with napkin. When you feel fed covering the rest of your food with napkin will reduce the desire for eating because you do not see the food. Far from your eyes, far from your mouth as well.

4. Do not eat to satisfy others. No matter how tasty mother’s cake is, do not eat another piece of it just because she asks you to. Say “maybe later” but do not let her kind of sad face talk you into eating more.

5. Focus on the taste of the first couple of bites of your favorite food. You love chocolate? Researches have shown that eating two cubes of chocolate gives you the same satisfaction as eating the whole row. In the second case scenario you have overate and feel guilty about it. Remember the first couple of bites because that is when the food is the tastiest.

After the first couple of bites your tongue receptors are less sensitive to the food chemicals. Conclusion? You can satisfy your desire for eating caloric food with only 2-3 bites. This way you will prevent overeating.

6. Eating until you are 80% full. Okinawa people practice this technique and 29% of the inhabitants live 100 years or more.

7. Overeating may happen easily if you leave your finished dish on the table you are still sitting. Put away the used dishes so you do not eat after you are finished eating. If the dish is in front of you, the chances of putting more food in it are big.

8. Send your body a signal with which you will say “I am done eating”. These signals can be sent with:

• A chewing gum or hard mint candy. Mint reduces appetite and chewing gum will keep your mouth busy.
• Several pieces of fruit or couple of chocolate bites. Sweet food is detected by the brain as a desert. You will not be back eating the previously eaten food after eating sweets.

9. Make sure your dish and the food you are about to eat are in different color. Instead of serving pasta in a white dish, serve it in a red, black or blue dish. The more diverse the colors between the dish and the food are the bigger will seem to be the meal you are about to eat.

10. Try not to do anything else while eating. Overeating mostly occur when we eat in front of the computer or TV because we stuff out mouth repeatedly. Eat in the kitchen on the table you are supposed to be eating. This way you will not have any other activities.

11. Do not eat out of the packaging. If you bought yourselves a big pack of chips do not eat out of it. Serve yourselves normal amount of the chips in a bowl. This way you will not overeat and will know how many calories have you entered,

12. Leave the fork lean on your dish between every bite. Have a bite and leave the fork on the dish. Making a pause between bites will give your body enough time to alert the brain that you are full. Do not forget that your brain needs 15-20 minutes until it gets the signal.