8 tricks to help you lose weight without dieting or exercising

Everyone wants to be in perfect shape. Very often we think, that this perfect shape is connected with endless dieting or exercising. The truth is, that you can actually lose weight effortlessly. How? With implementing small changes in your lifestyle, that will trick you to eat less and move more.

These 8 smart tricks will help you lose weight and stay fit without dieting and exercising. If you find diets and exercises exhausting, this may be a perfect solution for you!

1. Eat from small plates

This is the first thing you have to do if you want to lose weight without even noticing it! Serving in smaller plates means serving less than usual. The Smaller Plate Study, conducted by Dr Brian Wansink and Dr Koert van Ittersum confirm it. According to the researchers, using 10 inch diameter plates instead of the traditional 12 inch decreases the amount of food, that we eat, without having an effect on our perceived fullness or satisfaction. This can lead to a decreased with 20% portion size. The study was based on the Delboeuf illusion, the idea that the perceived size of a circle depends on the size of the circle that surrounds it.

Delboeuf illusion – the perceived size of a circle depends on the size of the circle that surrounds it

2. Search for contrast

The researchers from the above study found out, that the color of your plate, tablecloth and the color of your food determine how much you will fill your plate, as well. They play role in how you view the serving size. When serving your dinner, it is best that the color of your plate and tablecloth are identical. Only the color of food has to contrast. According to van Ittersum, “When serving yourself on large plates that have a similar color to the food, the amount of overserving increases”. At the picture below you can see, how the colors can influence our perception of size. These green beans on the left plate are not only less than on the plate on the right, but they also look much tastier, than the green beans on the green plate.

3. Try Hara hachi bun me

This is not an exotic meal or a new kind of superfood, but a Confucian teaching that instructs people to eat until they are 80% full. It is popular among the citizens of Okinawa, which have typical body mass index (BMI) of 18 to 22, compared to a typical BMI of 26 or 27 for adults over 60 in the United States. This influence comes from Hakuun Yasutani, a Zen-priest who advises his students to eat only eighty percent of their capacity, and he repeats a Japanese proverb: “eight parts of a full stomach sustain the man; the other two sustain the doctor”.

4. Cook your meals and eat at home

Cooking your meals and eating at home can help you lose wait as well. If you set this rule you will be forced to mute your food cravings, while you are on the road. A study analyzed data from the 2007-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from more than 9,000 participants aged 20 and older, suggests that home cooking is better for a healthier diet. Julia A. Wolfson, the lead author of this study says:

“When people cook most of their meals at home, they consume fewer carbohydrates, less sugar and less fat than those who cook less or not at all – even if they are not trying to lose weight”

Preparing your meals yourself will also ensure, that the food you eat is of better quality. You know what’s inside and there is no place for surprising ingredients, like monosodium glutamate for instance, which makes the food “tastier” and can be harmful for your health.

5. Eat soup before dinner

A bowl of vegetable or chicken soup before dinner will make you eat less, as you will get faster full. It will slow your eating and reduce your appetite. Eating a soup is better than drinking water while you have a meal. Scientists have performed MRI scans of people’s stomachs to investigate what happens after eating solid food + water meal compared with the same food made into soup.

After you eat a meal, the pyloric sphincter valve at the bottom of your stomach holds food back, so that the digestive juices can get to work. When water is consumed by itself, it is able to pass straight through the sphincter and into the intestines, however when blended together with food it stays in the stomach for much longer – which is linked to greater feelings of satiety. The nutritional dispersion and the temperature of soup are also thought to help aid the feelings of satiety.

6. Fill 50% of your plate with salad

When filling your plate, fill it half with salad. When possible don’t eat the salad separately. This will make you full faster and you won’t forget about the salad, while you are enjoying your main dish. Your plate will look full, but the calories in it will be sufficient less and the vitamins and minerals, that benefit your health – more.

7. Keep the good food close

Keep an apple, banana or any other healthy fruit close, so that if you get hungry between your meals, this is the only food you can reach out to. Very often we eat whatever is closest to us. Our laziness plays a big role in our food choices. A study from Saint Bonaventure University in the US proves this. 56 participants were assigned to 3 groups. Their food preferences were examined. In this study, participants could choose between sliced apples and buttered popcorn. The 1st group had the apples closest to them, buttered popcorn was placed 2m away. Second group had – the buttered popcorn close and the apples away and the third group had both foods placed near. Although participants rated the popcorn as more liked than apples, the food that was placed closer to them was consumed most in the two experimental groups, regardless of their preference.

8. Post 1 photo of yourself per day on Facebook

This is a brilliant tactic for eating less, without you even realize it. If you make yourself a promise to post at least 1 photo a day on Facebook, you will spend more time in making yourself beautiful and in the making of the perfect photo, which is good enough to be published, rather than thinking how hungry you are and what to eat. The Likes and positive comments of your friends will contribute to your feeling of satisfaction and happiness, which will motivate you to look better and better on your photos. This way you can also measure the differences – by comparing your photos from the beginning and later. Without you even know it, you will look at your best and your friends will motivate you to go further.

Without dieting or exercising you can also lose weight. Effortlessly and without even realizing it – with simple and little changes in your way of living. How soon you start implementing these changes, how faster the results will be visible.

Useful links: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smaller_Plate_Study
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/662615
http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/outreach/color_plate.html
http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/outreach/large-plates.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delboeuf_illusion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hara_hachi_bun_me
http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-a-livable-future/news-room/News-Releases/2014/Study-Suggests-Home-Cooking-Main-Ingredient-in-Healthier-Diet.html
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v67/n1/full/ejcn2012152a.html
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666314000920