Weight Loss Tricks

From the Editors of Prevention

Eat a Meal and Lose More! Midafternoon, you have chips from the vending machine. Half an hour later, you're munching pretzels. If instead you ate foods that you associate with meals -– a hard-boiled egg or a turkey-and-cheese roll-up -- you'd feel full longer, say scientists from the State University of New York, Buffalo.

Their study found that undergrads who labeled mid-afternoon treats as "snacks" ate 87 percent more at dinner than those who ate identical 2:30 p.m. foods but classified them as "meals." If you choose items that you think of as meals – real food, rather than treats -- they'll more likely satisfy your appetite, says lead researcher Elizabeth D. Capaldi, PhD. Kathy McManus, RD, director of the nutrition department at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, developed the following snack-for-meal swaps. Choose a 150-calorie mini-meal if you normally eat three substantial meals and two snacks every day; the 250-calorie options are for those who usually spread their daily calories over five or six small meals.

150-Calorie Mini-Meals
Instead of: 6 oz fat-free fruited yogurt
Eat this meal: ½ small whole wheat pita, 2 thin slices turkey breast, sliced tomato and mustard

Instead of: 1 oz pretzels, ½ c grapes
Eat this meal: ½ whole wheat English muffin, 1 oz reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, green bell pepper, tomato slices

250-Calorie Mini-Meals
Instead of: Energy or breakfast bar
Eat this meal: 1 slice whole wheat toast, 1 scrambled egg, 2 slices turkey bacon

Instead of: Trail mix with chocolate chips, cashews, dried fruit
Eat this meal: Whole wheat tortilla, slice of avocado, 2 slices chicken breast, tomato, lettuce, 1 Tbsp salsa

In Case of a Snack Emergency
If you really want to snack -- and nothing else will do -- it may be possible to trick yourself into eating less. People tend to eat the same number of food portions, no matter what the portion size, according to a study published in Psychological Science. Researchers offered participants a snack in two sizes: one small or one large Tootsie Roll, one small or one large scoop of M&M's, or one whole or one half-sized pretzel. Regardless of which serving size subjects chose, they ate the same number of portions -- so the smaller-portion eaters ate less overall. To make this work for you, just choose smaller snack sizes and pay attention to the number of servings per container.