Secrets to speed slimming

Now that we’ve shed our winter gear, we also want to eliminate pesky “hibernation pounds.” These tweaks help you cut calories— no diet required!

Turn on all the lights

Incredible as it sounds, just brightly illuminating your dining room is proven to cut calorie intake by 39%—that’s equivalent to eating 366 calories at dinner rather than 600! Cornell researchers found that folks who ate in well-lit rooms not only consumed fewer calories, 52% of them chose healthier fare. “If you aren’t aware of what you are eating, such as not being able to see the food, you tend to eat more mindlessly, more mechanically and will pack in more calories without even being aware you are doing so,” explains obesity specialist Susan L. Besser, M.D., of Mercy Personal Physicians in Baltimore.

Make a fist

Ever notice you naturally tense your muscles when you’re trying to accomplish a mental challenge? Research out of the University of Chicago found that clenching your fist for 30 seconds really does shore up willpower. In fact, it helped subjects resist unhealthy temptations so well, they trimmed 150 calories from a single snack time. “When we clench, it’s like giving ourselves a minute to reassess the situation, and oftentimes that leads us to make the wiser choice,” explains Melissa Rifkin, M.S., R.D., C.D.N., of Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. “Most of the time, we overeat because of an emotion, not true hunger. Clenching gives us an opportunity to pause and think, Do I need that food? or Do I want that food? ”

Read before you order

Dartmouth researchers just discovered an ingenious trick to trim hundreds of calories from every meal out: Ask for the nutrition menu. Folks who saw calorie counts listed next to photos of goodies like cheese fries automatically found the treats less tempting. Researchers suspect the nutrition facts act as a visual cue that squelches activity in the brain’s reward center and increases activity in the control center. — Katherine Kluznik