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Cindy’s joy was contagious: in the three months we have been working with her, we have never seen her so happy.
After 25 years of miserable dieting, the 45-year-old woman had finally surpassed the 20 kilos that put her in the “overweight” category.
And he had achieved it in three months, without doing fad diets, without running on the treadmill or even thinking much about his diet.
Cindy is one of hundreds of clients we have helped transform their lives over the years with our no-nonsense weight loss plans.
As registered dietitians who have worked in the wellness world for over 20 years, we have seen all the diet trends come and go.
Tammy and Lyssie Lakatos, the nutrition twins, share their best tricks for losing weight quickly with minimal effort
The Nutrition Twins take a unique approach to diet advice, moving away from fad regimens and instead recommending simple tricks you barely notice.
From cutting out sugar to eating only raw or no-carb meat the old-fashioned way, the results are always the same. They work for a few weeks and then the clients gain weight again and more.
Our experience has led us to the conclusion that the most effective methods are usually the little things that are so easy to do that they are barely noticed.
And these adjustments to your daily routine will help you keep off the pounds forever.
We’re talking about seemingly small changes, like adding salads or vegetables to your meals and hot drinks, that keep you fuller longer.
In our brilliant new DailyMail.com column, we’ll tell you these secrets we’ve collected over almost 20 years in the world of diet and fitness.
It is important to note that our tricks and adjustments are only for those who are overweight and want to do something about it, or have to lose kilos for health reasons.
Always consult your doctor before making changes to your diet; Everyone is different and our advice may not be relevant to your personal circumstances.
However, with about 40 percent of Americans in the obese category, there will be millions who will greatly benefit from our insider knowledge.
To get you started, here are five simple tricks that take a few minutes to complete, but will keep you full for hours, eliminating the temptation to pick up trash.
SOME SNACKS ARE OKAY…BUT MAKE SURE THEY ARE FROZEN
We’re biologically programmed to want sweets after dinner, but freezing them can help you eat more slowly.
There’s no point telling a customer to get rid of all the snacks. Life is busy and not always organized, which means that, although not ideal, it is common to accidentally go long periods between meals and feel overwhelmed by hunger.
But the snack you choose is important. For example, fruits, vegetables, nuts, chickpeas and certain cereal bars made with oats have a high fiber content, which takes longer to digest, making these foods more satiating.
You could add some low-fat yogurt for protein, which would boost the protein and further increase satiety.
But if you’re craving something sweet after dinner, don’t feel guilty: we’re biologically programmed this way.
It’s all due to a phenomenon known as sensory-specific satiety.
This is when your taste buds get bored and after a while you lose your appetite for salty foods.
But when you start eating a food that tastes and feels completely different in your mouth, you’ll find that your taste buds perk up and you’ll be able to eat more.
But here’s a good trick to keep you from overindulging on sweet snacks: store them in the freezer.
When you freeze a treat, you slow down the rate at which you eat it, giving you a better chance of noticing the satiety signals sent by your stomach to your brain.
Think of it this way: you can’t bite into a chocolate bar that’s been in the freezer unless you want to break a tooth.
Ditch the carbonated soft drinks… instead, have hot drinks with meals.
Hot drinks like tea contain L-theanine, which produces a calming sensation that can calm anxiety when eating.
Playing with the temperature of food is a useful trick that could help reduce a big appetite.
Some of our overweight clients, who often return for multiple servings, benefit from drinking hot tea just before starting their meal as it helps reduce insatiable hunger.
There are some small studies that suggest that certain teas, such as green, black, and oolong, may reduce “stress eating” due to the presence of the amino acid L-theanine.
When L-theanine crosses the blood-brain barrier, it causes a feeling of calm and alert. Many of us tend to overeat when we feel anxious, so suppressing those feelings could help you avoid it.
Therefore, starting your meals with a drink rich in L-theanine could help you limit your portions.
Warm drinks like lemon water and tea also help give your digestive system the edge by helping your stomach absorb nutrients.
‘GRAZING’ IS OKAY… BUT HAVE VEGETABLES ‘THAT NEED HANDHAND’ READY
Foods that require a little work to eat, like crunchy vegetables, give the stomach enough time to tell the brain that it’s full.
If you work at home, there’s a good chance you’re wandering around the kitchen looking for easy-to-grab food for a quick snack.
The most popular options are tasty and easily accessible products, such as chips, pretzels and candy. But try something that doesn’t go from hand to lips so easily.
This could be peeling an orange, chewing raw vegetables like broccoli, or shelled nuts like pistachios.
The goal is not to make eating more difficult. Instead, it’s to slow down your eating behaviors and prevent you from absentmindedly finishing an entire bag of chips.
If you have to take the time to peel something or crack open a shell, this will slow you down and give you time to notice if you’re feeling full.
The standard American diet is full of bland foods like chips, mashed potatoes, pasta, and cereals, which take no time to chew, making us more likely to keep eating until our stomachs finally catch up and say otherwise.
One study, for example, looked at 30 healthy women who ate their food at different rates. Researchers found that women who consume more slowly significantly less food while still feeling fuller than those who ate faster.
Crunchy vegetables, in particular, are also packed with fiber, which our bodies need to keep the digestive system running smoothly and regulate sugars. These foods are digested more slowly, meaning they cause a gradual rise in blood sugar and keep us fuller for longer.
CHOOSE A SMALLER PLATE…AND MAKE IT BLUE
Studies show that eating on a smaller blue plate can help with portion control by tricking the brain and triggering feelings of calm.
Research shows it’s not just imagination: plates have gotten bigger.
In fact, recent research found that the average plate size has increased nearly 23 percent since 1900.
While this may not seem like much, larger plates can lead to overeating, as people tend to fill their plates and eat most of what’s on them.
However, just because dinnerware is getting bigger doesn’t mean you have to use it. A smaller plate or bowl, such as a salad plate, is a good alternative.
Basically, this works by tricking your brain into thinking you’re eating the same portion size as you would on a larger plate. It’s a phenomenon called the Delboeuf illusion, or thinking that the same portion size is larger on a smaller surface than on a larger one.
A Georgia Tech study, for example, found that when students were asked to serve the same amount of soup on a small plate and a large plate, they put more soup on the larger plate.
Bonus points if your plate is blue. A study published in the journal Appetite found that people who used a blue plate ate less food than those who ate it from a white or red plate.
Researchers believe it’s because blue is not associated with desirable food colors and does not trigger appetite.
However, restaurants have been shown to emphasize colors like red and yellow to stimulate feelings of happiness and excitement, causing us to eat more.