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Anyone who has tried to quit bad habits and start leading a healthy lifestyle knows that the hardest thing is to avoid temptations. Fortunately, there are science-based ways to fight temptations that will help you curb unwanted desires and develop willpower.
Good things come in small packages
You don’t have to eat a whole bar to satisfy your craving for chocolate (or other forbidden sweets). This was announced after his research Brian Vansink (Brian Wansink)1, author of the book “Slim By Design”2 and director of the Cornish Food and Brand Lab. In his opinion, one or two small pieces can satisfy the desire to eat sweetness and will not affect the diet.
“Most of those who could be satisfied with one-fourth of their serving, eat the whole thing – to excessive satiety,” says Brian. The trick to his method is to eat only a small portion and keep the rest out of sight. After 15 minutes, there will be no trace of the desire to eat everything else3.
The “principle of a small piece” works not only with sweets, but also with main dishes. Try to finely chop large pieces and share large portions of high-calorie foods – take a cue from restaurants. By the way, cutting into small pieces is an effective way of self-deception: it seems that there is more food on the plate than it really is.
Pressing on biologically active points
This quick distraction technique has a significant impact on appetite and stress-induced snack cravings. You only need to press your finger on your forehead for 30 seconds. “When we feel stressed, food is one of the fastest ways to feel relief. It acts as a sedative,” says Jessica Ortner, author of The Emotional Freedom Technique for Weight Loss and Body Confidence.4. Therefore, a stress relief technique based on the use of biologically active points on the human body helps to reduce hunger.
The smell of fresh fruit
The smell of fruit will help to deceive the desire to buy the most high-calorie dessert in a restaurant. According to a study by French psychologists published in the journal Appetite, subjects who inhaled the aroma of a pear or melon for 15 minutes subsequently chose a low-calorie fruit dessert over chocolate (unlike participants in the experiment, who did not smell the fruit before making a choice). )5.
You don’t have to eat a whole bar to fight the urge to eat chocolate (or other forbidden sweets). This was announced after his research Brian Vansink (Brian Wansink)6, author of the book “Slim By Design”7 and director of the Cornish Food and Brand Lab. In his opinion, one or two small pieces can satisfy the desire to eat sweetness and will not affect the diet.
“Most of those who could be satisfied with one-fourth of their serving, eat the whole thing – to excessive satiety,” says Brian. The trick to his method is to eat only a small portion and keep the rest out of sight. After 15 minutes, there will be no trace of the desire to eat everything else8.
The “principle of a small piece” works not only with sweets, but also with main dishes. Try to finely chop large pieces and share large portions of high-calorie foods – take a cue from restaurants. By the way, cutting into small pieces is an effective way of self-deception: it seems that there is more food on the plate than it really is.
Refusal to advertise food
As soon as you see an ad for a high-calorie food, change the channel, flip the page, or just get distracted. “Pictures of high-calorie foods make us hungry and want to eat them”9, explains Kathleen Page, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Southern California (USA). “It’s very hard to resist the urge to eat fatty foods shown in ads, so you need to find a way to avoid contact with ads, such as moving away from the TV during commercial breaks.”
Pure water
Drinking water isn’t just for filling your stomach. The choice of drink also affects the choice of food: for example, with soda, most people eat fatty foods, and not a light salad. And if you choose water, you are more likely to prefer vegetables and low-calorie foods.10.
1 B. Wansink, P. Chandon «Slim by Design: Redirecting the Accidental Drivers of Mindless Overating», Journal of Consumer Psychology, March 2014.
2 B. Wansink «Slim by Design. Mindless Eating Solutions For Everyday Life», Harper Collins Publishers, September 2014.
3 R. Grumman Bender, «7 Scientifically Proven Ways to Trick Yourself Into Eating Healthier», Yahoo Health, November 2014.
4 J. Ortner «The Tapping Solution for Weight Loss & Body Confidence: A Woman’s Guide to Stressing Less, Weighing Less, and Loving More», Hay House, May 13, 2014.
5 M. Gaillet-Torrent et al. «Impact of a non-attentively perceived odour on subsequent food choices», Appetite Journal, January 2014.
6 B. Wansink, P. Chandon «Slim by Design: Redirecting the Accidental Drivers of Mindless Overating», Journal of Consumer Psychology, March 2014.
7 B. Wansink «Slim by Design. Mindless Eating Solutions For Everyday Life», Harper Collins Publishers, September 2014.
8 R. Grumman Bender, «7 Scientifically Proven Ways to Trick Yourself Into Eating Healthier», Yahoo Health, November 2014.
9 Sh. Luo et al. «Abdominal fat is associated with a greater brain reward response to high-calorie food cues in Hispanic women», Obesity (Silver Spring), May 2013.
10 R. Grumman Bender «7 Scientifically Proven Ways to Trick Yourself Into Eating Healthier», Yahoo Health, November 2014.