This Simple Trick Could Finally Stop You Over-Eating

Because however much you know you should stop, there's always something tempting within reach.

21 March, 2018
This Simple Trick Could Finally Stop You Over-Eating

​With holidays looming, the sun peeking out behind those god-forsaken clouds, and skimpier clothes finding their way into our wardrobes, it's right about now that many of us are thinking about how we can make our eating habits a little bit healthier.

And one of the main problems for many of us is over-eating. Our portion sizes can be too big, and it's hard to judge when enough's ​enough, ​when you've still got half a plate of glorious food staring back at you.

So when I stumbled across a 'life hack' on a Quora thread, which suggested that eating food with your non-dominant hand could help you stop consuming so much, I thought I'd look into it.

In a Q&A thread entitled 'What are the best three life hacks?' author and founder of site ChillPill, Brandon Nguyen, wrote:

"One simple way to eat more deliberately and slowly is to force yourself to eat with your non-dominant hand. It might be too much to do this for every meal, but trying it for dinner to start since that's when we tend to eat the most."

So why does Brandon suggest this is a good idea?

"The reason for this is that it takes more time to eat, which gives your stomach a chance to signal your brain that you're full."

Which ​does ​make sense. It's like that thing where you're supposed to remember to chew each mouthful at least 20 times. Obviously that's never going to happen because by 20 chews your once-delicious spoonful has now been ground to flavourless mush, but eating with your other hand? That's a suggestion that could work.

To double check this really ​is ​a good idea, and that Brandon's not just trying to punk us all by making us look like idiots who don't even know how to feed ourselves, I got in touch with Susan Hepburn, an expert hypnotherapist and psychotherapist​ specialising in diet and weight loss.

And she was all for it.

"Research  has  shown that  eating with your non dominant hand can reduce the amount you eat by around 30%," Susan told ​Cosmopolitan.co.uk.​ "This action actively disrupts the established patterns of how you eat. 
"So, it's not just inconvenient, it makes you think. Such as: 'am I hungry?' If the answer is no, you stop eating."

So there you have it, if you want to reduce that bloat, try eating with your left hand if you're right-handed, and vice versa. Happy wonky-eating.

Credit: Cosmopolitan
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