Trick your body into losing weight

We all know eating less is the key to shedding excess kilos and it doesn't all have to be about will power. Photo / Getty Images

For some of us, the mere thought of cutting calories or eating healthier is enough to drive us to eat more and seek out high calorie foods.

If you know that your health deserves a little more of your attention, here are some easy ways that you can trick yourself into eating and being healthier, reports news.com.au.

PUT FOOD AWAY

If food is readily available, human beings will generally eat it. It is not a sign of weakness, or a lack of self-control rather biological and social programming that sees us eat when tempting foods are within sight and easy reach. For this reason, keeping food out of sight is one of the easiest ways you can reduce calorie intake. First of all put foods that are easy to grab and nibble on such as fruits, nuts, cakes, biscuits and snack foods well out of sight when you open the cupboard or fridge. Encourage your workplace to keep fundraising chocolates, biscuits and office cakes away from easy reach and keep any work snacks in the fridge or office kitchen so you do not see them sitting on your desk or in your work drawer. Out of sight, out of mind.

SHOP LESS

The more frequently we shop, the more we buy and the more we eat, it is as simple as that. How often do you head to the supermarket for bread and milk and come out with $100 of groceries. For this reason shopping online helps to limit volume as does shopping less overall. It may mean that you have very little food in the house at the end of each week but it also means you have less food to eat and will end up using more of your cupboard supplies rather than simply buying more.

Try shopping online for your groceries. Photo / Getty Images

SERVE ON SMALLER PLATES

The more food we are served, the more we will eat which is why serving meals on smaller plates helps to limit volume overall, as does pouring drinks into smaller glasses. This means that jumbo sized cereal bowls can be replaced with tea cup sized bowls; dinner plates do not have to be filled and small cups, wine glasses and tea cups are best for our regular beverage consumption. Then you can leave your larger plates and bowls for salad and vegetables and your largest glasses for water to help increase your intake of low calorie vegies and calorie free water.

TAKE FOOD FROM HOME

Even when you are trying to be healthier, when we are buying our meals at cafes, food courts and restaurants regularly you will be eating up to double the calories than if you brought or made your meals at home. For this reason even taking your lunch to work a few extra times, or ordering less takeaway each week will significantly reduce your overall calorie intake each week.

LIMIT EATING HOURS

New research suggests that giving the body more hours without food can be a successful weight loss strategy which does not require any further calorie counting. It appears that simply eating all of our meals within a 8-10 hour period eg 10-6pm naturally helps to body to burn more fat and support weight loss. While weight loss is not dramatic, a gradual 1-2kg loss each month without a huge amount of effort appears to be a sustainable diet strategy for many.