First, cut slice and dice your food.
The same serving size looks like bigger- especially if you spread it around the plate
"We kind of trick our mind into thinking we're eating more," said Jessica Shapiro, Registered Dietician at Montefiore Medical Center.
Researchers from Arizona State found that when a bagel is cut into pieces, people ate less of it.
And tip number two, add a vegetable puree.
"Vegetables are low in calories but high in nutrition," adds Shapiro.
Shapiro showed off her favorite pasta sauce puree. First, roast vegetables in the oven and chop them up, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peppers. Then put them in a blender and puree.
Mix that into a simple tomato sauce.
And one recent study found that if you sneak pureed vegetables into a meal the people consumed the same quantity of food they felt just as full but had two extra servings of vegetables and 350 fewer calories.
Jessica says you can also add pureed veggies into mashed potatoes, giving you the same texture, but with more vitamins and nutrients.
And tip number three, add air. "By incorporating air it adds more volume," adds Shapiro.''
For example popcorn will take up more space in a measuring cup then chips.
And try whipped butter and whipped cream cheese. Same taste, but the added air means you can eat more of it with fewer calories.
And when it comes to plates, size matters. It's been shown that if you eat on a smaller plate, you eat less food--but still feel like you're eating a full plate's worth of food.
---
