Eat slowly and from small plates!

As is well known, the eye eats with you. So eat your meals on small plates - that way, even smaller portions look like more. This visual trick tells your subconscious that you have eaten a large portion, although the meal was actually much smaller. So if you consciously reduce your portions by just a small amount - for example, from 600 kilocalories to 500 - you'll save a lot over a few weeks. Your figure will benefit!

Eating slowly can also help you lose weight. If you consciously take your time and chew the food you eat for a long time, the eating time will increase and you will feel that you have eaten more. Try chewing each bite about twenty times before swallowing. This has several advantages: Your stomach is better able to digest the food you eat because it has already been optimally prepared for it by the saliva released during chewing. Your body also sends a corresponding satiety signal to your brain as soon as you have eaten enough. However, this process usually takes 15 to 20 minutes. If you eat very quickly, you consume too many calories before your digestive tract can send the satiety signal. These excess calories are not needed by your body at all; therefore, they are stored. If, on the other hand, you take enough time for your meals, you can feel in time when you have had enough. And then you should really stop eating.

Scientific research also shows that the speed of eating affects hormone levels in the blood. The more time you take to eat, the more appetite-suppressing hormones are in your blood after your meal and the longer you stay full.

These are only small changes, but they can make a big difference. Slow eaters often need much smaller portions to feel full. Fast eaters, on the other hand, are twice as likely to become overweight. So your motto should be: slow food instead of fast food!