Did you know that eating just 10 calories more than you burn every day will cause you to gain one pound in a year? Keep in mind that 10 calories is equivalent to just one bite of chocolate!
Now consider that the average American eats 12 pounds of chocolate every year -- along with 67 pounds of beef, 31 pounds of cheese, five pounds of potato chips and 260 eggs. It's easy to see why we're all overweight: because we eat too much!
If you really want to lose weight, you have to take in fewer calories. But that doesn't mean you have to starve yourself. As the chocolate example above illustrates, small changes can make a big difference.
Here are some simple ways to start cutting calories without turning your life upside down:
1. Eat more often. Eating food in small bundles throughout the day keeps your metabolism chugging along. It tells your body that it doesn't have to store up calories for a rainy day. And it keeps you from becoming ravenously hungry, so that you're less likely to gorge on a large meal.
2. Eat your calories, don't drink them. Calories from solids take more time to digest, so they help you stay satisfied longer -- plus, the extra work required by your digestive system helps to burn calories.
3. Eat foods that fill you up. Susanna Holt at the University of Sydney was the first researcher to index foods and categories of foods based on satiety. In her study, 38 foods with the same 240 calorie portion size were evaluated over a two-hour period to measure the degree of satiety as compared to a portion of white bread. Potatoes, popcorn, oatmeal and fish were among the foods that scored best.
4. Eat foods that fill up your senses. Studies conducted by the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago suggest that foods that are full of flavor and aroma are more satisfying than bland foods. As a result, people tend to eat smaller portions of full-flavor foods.
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