Eat like a Kid to Lose Weight

As a parent, I learn a lot from my kids including ways to eat less which in turn helps me lose weight. By observing your child's behavior at mealtime, you will find some ways to eat like a kid to lose weight.

Smaller portions. This is the most obvious difference between children and adults at mealtime. As an adult, you may feel you need a larger portion for adequate nutrition. But if you really take a good look at portion sizes, you may be surprised at how much smaller a portion size is than what we think. Serve yourself smaller portions at home and if go out to eat, try ordering from the kids' menu.

Leaving food on the plate. Kids leave food on the plate because they aren't hungry anymore. As adults, whether it is from learned eating behaviors or just because we like food so much, we tend to be more likely to finish what is on our plates. Until you learn your body's signals and can stop eating when you are no longer hungry, leave at least a bit of each item on your plate. Over time you can train yourself to eat less.

Conversation. My kids like to talk at mealtime. Since they do not talk with their mouths full, if they are talking they are not eating. For me, taking this extra time between bites to engage in conversation gives my brain time to register how much food is actually in my stomach. Otherwise, I would just inhale my food as quickly as possible to get the meal over with and will likely eat more than my body needs.

"Playing with food". When I watch my kids eat, they tend to shift the food around on their plates either while talking or listening to others. This has a similar effect to conversation (above) by giving your brain time to register what you've already eaten. Also, if the utensil is moving the food around, it's not going into your mouth.

Snacks. I have healthy foods on hand for when my kids get hungry between meals. I have adjusted to making a little extra ahead of time so that I can have the healthy snack option when hunger strikes rather than reaching for convenience foods that are loaded with extra fat and calories. It doesn't take much extra time to have an extra snack ready for yourself when having snacks available for the kids.

Eating when hungry. Although my kids sometimes think they are hungry when they are just bored, they generally don't want to take the time to eat unless they are actually hungry. I was a "bored eater", I would eat simply for something enjoyable to do when I was bored. Before snacking, I take time to figure out if I'm really hungry or simply looking for something to do. If I'm not hungry, there are many things that need to be done rather than eating.

Eat like a kid to lose weight. As mentioned above, even though smaller servings are extremely helpful when you are on a diet, if you watch your kids at mealtime, you may find even more helpful tips to eat like a kid to lose weight.