How to Eat Less and Enjoy More by Doing These 3 Things
Want to eat fewer calories and feel satisfied longer, WITHOUT dieting or feeling deprived?
Want to enjoy your food more, have better gut health, and have an easier time getting to and staying at a healthy weight?
I know, it sounds too good to be true. But friend, not only is it true, it is surprisingly doable! Stick with me and I’ll walk you through 3 simple but crazy powerful strategies to help you eat less and enjoy more.
Strategy #1: Eat Slowly and Mindfully
I get it, you have a toddler to pick up from preschool, Target runs to go on, home projects to tackle, laundry to fold, the list is infinite. It seems so much easier to scarf down some Chic-fil-a in between errands, or survive the day with a constant drip of Dr. Pepper Zero and jalapeno chips. I know because I’ve been there.
The bummer is that this grab-and-go habit does our bodies and minds a huge disservice for several reasons:
The “quick” foods are often processed, high in calories, and low in nutrients
Eating quickly burdens the digestive system unnecessarily
We lose the chance to check in with our minds and body. Mealtime can be a beautiful part of the daily grind. A real exhale that punctuates the day. We miss out on this when we’re just shoving in some food so we can get on to the next thing.
We can easily overeat without even realizing it
Why we overeat
A huge reason we overeat is simply that our brains don’t know we are full. It takes about 20 minutes for our brains to get the message from our stomachs that our belly is satisfied.
When we slow down and enjoy our food, we usually finish eating when we are satisfied, rather than uncomfortably stuffed. This means we can quite easily eat fewer calories without depriving ourselves. We can eat what we need but simply cut out the “uncomfortably full” calories.
Storytime
in 2005, researchers conducted a study where they had two groups of participants eat soup. One group ate from a regular bowl. The second group, however, ate their soup from bowls that automatically refilled themselves (participants did not know this - and also don’t ask me how that’s possible, an invisible straw that goes through the bowl, through the table, into a vat of soup? Pretty impressive stuff).
Here were the results, as quoted by the scientists:
“Participants who were unknowingly eating from self-refilling bowls ate more soup… than those eating from normal soup bowls. However, despite consuming 73% more, they did not believe they had consumed more, nor did they perceive themselves as more satiated than those eating from normal bowls. This was unaffected by BMI.”₁
WHAT!
The implications are huge. If we are not slowing down, we don’t know when we are full and can easily eat way more than we would if we were aware of the fullness cues from our bodies!
How to eat mindfully and slowly:
Are you ready to get excited about slowing down and eating with your eyes as well as your mouth? Below are some tips!
Create a ritual out of meal times by enjoying it with friends or family, setting the table, lighting candles, relaxing, connecting, etc.⠀
Make a conscious effort to taste your food and savor it
Take a sip of water in between bites to cue you to slow down
Take smaller bites. This is dumb, but I actually love eating ice cream with a baby spoon because it lasts so much longer.
Carve out time to step away from the desk to eat without working.⠀
Ditch all guilt and savor the doughnut you just really need because the kids keep throwing tantrums and this is the closest thing to break you’re going to get today.
Ideally, you would take at least 20 minutes to finish a meal, but slowing down could look like stretching out meal times even five more minutes than normal. Start small.
If your food is gross for whatever reason, you have my full permission to wolf it down as quickly as possible and get that experience over with.
Strategy #2: Eat until 80% Full
Picture this.
You’re at Outback Steakhouse celebrating your best friend’s birthday. You order a sirloin steak, mashed potatoes, and house salad. As you wait for your food to arrive, your stomach is rumbling with hunger and anticipation. Food comes and before you know it you’ve downed the whole thing and man it was good.
You’re feeling a bit uncomfortable because you ate quite a bit - come on, you wanted to get your money’s worth and it won’t be as good warmed up in the microwave.
20 minutes later though, you feel like your stomach is literally going to explode or you are going to birth a food baby.
Have you been there, or is it just me?
One thing is certain, being stuffed does not feel good, no matter how great the food tasted.
As was mentioned, it takes the brain about a whole 20 minutes to get the signal from our stomachs that we are full. For this reason, it can be really helpful to stop eating once you feel about 80% full because if you ARE 80% full, you are really probably 100% full but are just waiting for your brain to get the message.
So what does 80% full actually feel like?
After eating, you should feel like you could get up and go for a walk without discomfort.
You shouldn’t feel like you need to loosen your pants or belt.
You shouldn’t feel like you’re going to slip into a food coma.
You should feel satisfied (definitely not hungry). You could eat more if you wanted to, but you don’t need it.
Try not to overthink it. This infographic from Precision Nutrition is a super helpful resource in determining if you've hit 80% full.
If you find that you’re hungry in 20 minutes, then go ahead and eat some more! You will likely experience a learning curve as you pay attention to your hunger and fullness cues.
Strategy #3 Discover the Joy of the Table
The French are traditionally the kings of mealtime. I’ve always fantasized about living in Paris, taking a 2-hour lunch break, and eating a four-course meal each day.
While that’s not realistic for my current lifestyle (and probably most Americans), there is so much we can do to reconnect with the joy of eating.
How to Make Eating a Beautiful Experience
Arrange your food nicely. In the past, I’ve always just served food out of whatever pots or pans I cooked in at dinnertime. Lately, I’ve been transferring them to actual serving dishes and while it sounds funny, it’s made a significant impact on the quality of the eating experience as well as the conversation.
If you are the mother (especially of young children), don’t start eating until everything is at the table. Dish out the children’s food and then call everyone to the table. If they take forever, you eat the food hot. After a couple of cold meals, they will learn to get to the table on time.
Ban phones from the table.
Experiment with different recipes that fit your vibe. If you need quick you could try a meal delivery service like Hello Fresh, or use a crockpot or instant pot. Personally, I like a lot of variety. If you need ideas on meal planning and healthy recipes to try, I got you covered.
Use food as a time to connect with loved ones or make new friends
At Home with Madame Chic by Jennifer L. Scott is such a darling book and has so many great ideas for making meals a pleasant part of everyday life.
Well, friend, there you have it! 3 simple ways to naturally and organically eat less while enjoying more. I hope this was super helpful for you and that you give yourself permission to slow down, enjoy the eating experience, and allow your body to tell you how much you need to eat and when to stop.
Enjoy!
Sources:
₁ Wansink B, Painter JE, North J. Bottomless bowls: why visual cues of portion size may influence intake. Obes Res. 2005 Jan;13(1):93-100. doi: 10.1038/oby.2005.12. PMID: 15761167.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/dont-eat-until-youre-full-instead-mind-your-hara-hachi-bu-point/
https://www.precisionnutrition.com/eat-to-80-percent-full-infographic
