Heat It Up!

Bland foods encourage you to eat more--in order to get the pleasure of taste, we mistakenly feel that putting more food in our mouths will compensate.

Try eating warm foods (on a day like today, how could you not) whenever possible--warm oatmeal with nuts for breakfast. Put your lunch sandwich in the microwave a few minutes to melt the cheese and/or toast the bread. Heat releases more of the aroma and flavor oils in food and makes them more pleasurable, so you are less likely to gorge.

In addition, eating warm foods requires intention and attention. Mindless eating is the primary culprit in weight gain--I can't tell you the number of times I've heard, "I put on ten pounds last year and I don't know how! I didn't change anything!" Well, I know how we gain that weight--we eat without thinking. So take two minutes to nuke your food and become aware of what you choose to put in your mouth. If you're going to open that bag of Doritos, then put them on a plate with some cheese and eat them nacho-style. They will satisfy you more and you won'tfind yourself mainlining the whole bag.