Feeling Fat? Use These 2 Easy Ways to Lose Weight

You may think that you decide how much food you eat, but you don't.

A recent study has discovered two ways that your mind tricks you into eating more (or less) without you knowing it. If you're looking to shed a few pounds, then understanding these insights could offer a painless way to do it.

1. Let Your Plate Control Your Portion

When it comes to eating less, researchers have long known that a simple way to cut calories is to use a smaller plate. In one experiment, conducted by Brian Wansink from Cornell University and Koert van Ittersum from the Georgia Institute of Technology, it was discovered that a shift from 12–inch plates to 10–inch plates resulted in a 22% decrease in calories. Assuming the average dinner is 800 calories, this simple change would result in an estimated weight loss of more than 10 pounds over the course of one year.

While studies have proven over and over again that smaller plates lead to smaller portions the reason for this reduction had been unknown until recently. Wansink and van Ittersum have concluded that smaller plates cause us to eat less thanks to a powerful optical illusion known as the Delboeuf Illusion. The illusion works because we think things are smaller when we compare them to things that are larger.

If you put a small piece of food on a large plate, your mind will tell you that you are eating a small portion and you will automatically put more food on the plate. However, if you put that same piece of food on a small plate, your mind will tell you that you are eating a large portion and you'll stop adding food. The image below depicts the Delboeuf Illusion and how it applies to food.

2. Pick a Color That Makes Life Easy

The size of your plate isn't the only thing that determines how much you eat. Wansink and van Ittersum have discovered that the color of your plate matters too.

The two men conducted an experiment where they examined the relationship between plate color and serving size. The researchers instructed one group of participants to serve themselves pasta pre–mixed with a red tomato sauce and a second group to serve themselves pasta pre–mixed with a white Alfredo sauce. Each person was randomly given a white plate or a dark red plate.

The researchers discovered that when the color of a participant's plate matched the color of their food, they served themselves almost 30% more. In other words, if you ate pasta with red tomato sauce on a dark red plate, you ate almost 30% more than you would if you had used a white plate. The same was true for eating pasta with a white Alfredo sauce on a white plate compared to a dark red plate.

The reason behind this drastic difference in serving size is that when the color of your food blends in with the color of your plate, then the amount of food doesn't appear to be as large. The result is that you will end up scooping more food onto the plate. Look at the color contrast in the image below to get a sense of this effect.

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