36 fast, easy ways to lose weight

Instead of using regular dinner plates that range these days from 25 to 35cm (making them look empty if they’re not heaped with food), serve your main course on smaller salad plates (about 18 to 23cm wide). Instead of 450g glasses and oversized coffee mugs, return to the old days of 250g glasses and 170g coffee cups. That will discourage you from stuffing your plate – and your stomach.

You’re more likely to eat more – and eat more high-fat, high-kilojoule foods – when you eat out than when you eat at home. Restaurants today serve such large portions that many have switched to larger plates and tables to accommodate them. And research shows that food prepared at home is usually nutritionally better than that restaurant meal.

A study found that we tend to eat more when we eat with other people, most likely because we spend more time at the table. But eating with your significant other or your family, and using table time for talking in between chewing, can help cut down on kilojoules.

When out and about, buy a small popcorn, a small salad, a small hamburger. Again, studies find we tend to eat what’s in front of us, even though we’d feel just as full on less.

A body of research out of Pennsylvania State University finds that eating water-rich foods such as zucchini, tomatoes and cucumbers during meals reduces your overall kilojoule consumption. Other water-rich foods include soups and salads. You won’t get the same benefits by just drinking your water, though (but you will get other benefits of staying hydrated). Because the body processes hunger and thirst through different mechanisms, it simply doesn’t register a sense of fullness with water (or soft drink, tea, coffee or juice).

You can eat twice as much pasta salad loaded with veggies like broccoli, carrots and tomatoes for the same kilojoules as a pasta salad sporting just mayonnaise. Same goes for stir-fries, omelettes and other veggie-friendly dishes. If you eat a 1:1 ratio of grains to veggies, the high-fibre veggies will help satisfy your hunger before you overeat the grains. Bonus: Fibre is highly beneficial for preventing constipation, which can make you look bloated.

Here are 8 clear signs you’re not eating enough vegetables. 

There is some scientific legitimacy to today’s lower-carb diets: Large amounts of refined carbohydrates from white flour and added sugar can wreak havoc on your blood sugar and lead to weight gain. Limit your intake of sugar, white rice and white flour; swap them for whole-grain breads and brown rice. Several studies have found that eating more whole grains makes you more likely to weigh less.

Fancy coffee drinks from trendy coffee joints often pack several hundred kilojoules, thanks to whole milk, whipped cream, sugar and sugary syrups – and nearly 67 percent of us prefer our coffee with some sort of high-kilojoule add-ins. A cup of regular coffee with skim milk has just a small fraction of those kilojoules. And when brewed with good beans, it tastes just as great.

Eating dessert every day can be good for you, as long as you don’t overdo it. Make a spoonful of ice cream the jewel and a bowl of fruit the crown. Cut down on the chips by pairing each bite with lots of chunky, filling fresh salsa. Balance a little cheese with a lot of fruit or salad.

One study found that people who ate oat- or bran-based cereals had a lower risk of obesity compared with those who did not. While people who eat fibre-rich cereals may have other habits that also help prevent obesity, those types of cereal also deliver more fibre and nutrients – and fewer kilojoules – than other breakfast foods.