Slowing Down = Eating Less

I'm forever trying to find ways to trick myself into eating less. One of the ways I do this is to find foods that take longer to eat.

Simple swaps. Here's what I mean:

Take a 100-140 calorie yogurt. It takes me less than two minutes to eat and I don't chew anything. So at the end of the whole deal, I'm left feeling like I didn't really eat anything. For the same calories, I can eat a relatively big apple. Much more satisfying. Takes a lot longer.

Then there's the 230 calorie candy bar. Again, I can scarf that baby down in 60 seconds. A bowl of whole grain cereal with skim milk is roughly the same caloric intake and I have the process of getting the cereal out of the pantry, pouring it, putting it back, getting the milk out of the fridge, pouring it, grabbing a spoon, and finally sitting down to eat it.

Or, if I'm really dying for chocolate in the case above, I will buy a bag of M&Ms from the vending machine, take half out of the bag and eat them one at a time ... letting them melt on my tongue vs. chewing them. And then I try to bury the rest of the bag in my desk drawer to save for another day.

A cup or two of grapes? Oh yeah, I can suck those back in minutes. The same volume of cherries? Takes longer because I have to pluck off the stem and spit out the seed.

Chips or pretzels? Don't eat from the bag! Pour a serving into a measuring cup and put the big bag back in the pantry. Then sit down and enjoy the serving, eating one chip at a time.

A hunk of cheese or a piece of string cheese? The string cheese of course! I can peel off strings and nibble at them versus chomping down a hunk in a couple of bites.

Gotta eat candy? I choose Dots sometimes just because they take a long time to chew.

Gotta have snackies? Eat a baby carrot for each Cheez-It. And take a swig of water every few sets. You fill up faster and won't eat as much of the delicious but crappy stuff.

Tacos calling your name? Only make one at a time (in a whole wheat tortilla, please). And don't eat it standing at the counter! It gives your stomach time to catch up with your head.

Do you have any tricks like this? Tell us!