Swimsuit-optional season is upon us, also known as Halloween! Tons of boys want to take advantage of the gay-sacred holiday to draw as many admirers as possible by showing muscled skin rather than bulky shrouds. But getting there is no picnic—no sugar, no alcohol, no carbs, no fun! Eating becomes a minefield, with every meal a chance to explode—or rather, expand—your hard work.
Rather than watching what you eat, watch how you eat. Here are some surprising ways to trick your brain into eating less and burning more by simply changing your behavior, without drugs, shame or rice cakes.
1. Use a smaller plate. Reducing your plate size from 12 to 10 inches typically results in 22% less calories served, as the smaller plate makes a normal serving seem more filling according to The Smaller Plate Study. But don’t go too small! Once plate size went below 9.5 inches people realized they were tricking themselves and went back for more.
2. Use a tall, narrow glass. To avoid overpouring, this works for alcohol (the bane of every diet) as well as juice, sodas and sweet teas. People pour an average of 30% more into the short-wide glass than the tall-slender glass, according to a 2005 British Medical Journal study.
3. Sit down. Eating on the run will trick you into eating more, according to a study done by the University of Surrey. Participants who walked around while eating ate more and chose unhealthier snacks than those who sat down. So sit down, shut off your electronic gizmos and pay attention to your food as you eat.
4. Slow down. It takes approximately 20 minutes from the time you start eating for your brain to send out signals of fullness. A study presented at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity showed that overweight people took in fewer calories when they slowed their normal eating pace. Try these three moves: (1) Put your fork and knife down between bites. (2) Chew and swallow all of the food in your mouth before putting in any more. (3) Put on slow or soft music. It will dampen your pace, and you will have a more leisurely meal without even trying.
5. Eat alone. When people eat solo, they pay more attention to their food, eating less and making better choices. If you do want to eat with someone, pick someone with healthy eating habits. People tend to mirror the order, serving size and eating pace of their dining companion.
6. Track your food. Keeping a food diary may double your weight loss. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente studied 1,685 overweight adults and had them record what they ate. After 20 weeks, those who didn’t keep a food diary lost about nine pounds, while those who recorded their food intake lost 18 pounds—twice as much as those who didn’t track any food.
7. Fast for a half-day. Salk researchers compared mice that were allowed to eat whenever they wanted with mice that could only eat eight to nine hours per day (fasting the other 15-16 hours). The fasting mice were less likely to be obese, even though their total calorie intake was exactly the same. For humans, researchers suggest a nightly fast of 10-12 hours might do the same without changing daily calorie intake. A lengthy nighttime fast appears to “reset” a circadian clock disturbed by 24/7 feeding and drives up the body’s ability to burn off extra calories.