Losing weight is probably just as difficult as winning against boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. We might have exaggerated it a bit but weight loss is nonetheless the most worrying and alarming issue of the World. More than 1.9 billion people in this world are obese, as suggested by World Health Organization (WHO).
In one of our blog posts, we have already told you how to trick hunger hormones. This time we will tell you how to trick your brain.
The modern studies have devised a new solution to entertain the weight-loss issue. It is more about what goes into the mind rather than what goes into your mouth.
You eat more because your mind gives you a signal that your belly needs food. What if you fool your brain to trick it into eating less?
Smart, isn’t it? Gastrophysics, a new field of science and food, suggests that eating less is as simple as changing the color of your plate or the name of your dessert.
Play a mind game with your food to win this race against weight gain.
Don’t Eat In Front Of Computer or TV
Do you like to eat food while watching your favorite programs on TV? If yes, you need to stop that right now.
Studies prove that the more distracted we are, the more we eat. In 2007, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study to support this claim.
They found out that the participants who ate while playing solitaire felt less full than those who ate without playing it. Solitaire players ate twice snacks than the non-distracted ones.
Don’t eat in front of a screen.
Always Hold Your Bowl in the Hands
Don’t place your food plate on the dining table or your work desk. Our brain is stupid enough to mix up the plates and food.
When you hold your bowl in the hands, your brain signals to your body that you have enough food, considering the weight of the bowl. Hence, you feel fuller soon and feel like having no more food.
Visualize Food for Weight Loss
Those who cook themselves in the kitchen will always eat less than those who did not cook it. Have you ever wondered why? Our next trick has almost the same logic.
Research published in 2010 proved that if you visualize a food item before actually consuming it, you will eat less.
Over time, your craving for potato chips will be lessened if you visualize yourself eating chips before opening the packet.
Put Your Food in Small Plates
When you add little food in a bigger plate, it feels less and your brain wants more to satisfy itself. However, if you add the same in smaller plate, your brain would be convinced that you are eating already enough.
Surround the both circles (food) with two different rings (plates). The circle surrounded by the larger ring appears smaller i.e. food in a larger plate seems more in comparison to the same amount of food in a smaller plate.
Same Color Dishware and Tablecloth
What does that have to do with food?
Hold your horses, we’ll tell you…
This trick is related to the one above but it is based on the elimination of the effect of Delboeuf illusion. Here, dishware becomes less noticeable as it has the same color as of the tablecloth.
Consumer Research study has proved the results that if the tablecloth and dishware have same colors, we will put less food in the dishes.
Give Sweet Name to Your Sweet Dessert
Even if you bake the brownies topped with sweet chocolate, you won’t call it ‘Sweet Brownie.’
Scientists have proved this fact that if you call your sweet-dish ‘sweet,’ you will consume it in safer limits. You will eat brownie more than ‘sweet brownie.’
Our mind tricks us into thinking that the dessert that is named ‘sweet’ is sweeter than the one that lacks the word ‘sweet.’ At first, it sounds stupid but it works. Try it when you are about to serve sweet dish to your guest next time.
Initial shock after hearing these tricks is common. You can’t disregard something without trying it. And all of the tricks mentioned above are harmless. Deceiving your mind and losing weight was never this simple.
Warning!
Stay away from the triggering points of hunger hormones. Else your brain won’t be able to save the day.
