Do you wish to lose weight but are scared of the strict diets? It turns out your weight loss journey doesn’t have to be that boring. Here are ten meal hacks that can help you lose weight by making minor changes to your routine.

#1. Eat Fiber Rich Foods

Apart from the other health benefits such as improving digestive health and lowering cholesterol, fiber plays a pivotal role in weight loss. It helps you eat less by boosting satiety. As fiber is an indigestible carbohydrate, it reduces calorie absorption thereby promoting loss of weight. The best fiber-rich foods to add to your diet are chia seeds, lentils, raspberries, oatmeal, etc.

#2. Drink a glass of water before meals

So you might have heard this one, but I will reiterate the importance of drinking water. You should drink about two glasses of water 30 minutes before each meal to aid the digestive process. It will also make you feel less hungry, and you probably wouldn’t end up stuffing yourself till the last bite. You can also have fruit infused water as it has tons of health benefits and helps you detoxify.

#3. Add More Veggies

Incorporating more veggies into your diet helps you cut off on the calories and boosts metabolism. You can switch high-calorie ingredients in your favorite meals to low-calorie veggies (Hint: Replace pasta with vegetable noodles or replace white rice with veggies for dinner.) Broccoli, Kale, Spinach, Cauliflower, Zucchini are good options because of the high nutritional content and lower calories.

 #4. Make Healthier Choices

Of course, it is difficult to control your cravings and instead eat food that seems boring and dull but making a few healthy choices is a must. For instance, you don’t want to give up drinking, well that is okay. But what you can do is choose an alcoholic beverage with the least amount of calories. Similarly, don’t restrict yourself from eating out, but again select wisely. Have soup before the main course and get your salad loaded with dressings on the side. So by the time your main course arrives, you won’t be able to eat a high amount of calories.

#5. Do the Mirror Trick

As bizarre as it may seem, studies have found that the “mirror trick” does help you achieve your weight goals. The research states that installing a mirror in your kitchen and dining room can make you more conscious and self-aware. Whenever you try to load up on the unhealthy yet delicious seeming foods, look at yourself in the mirror, and the high-fat meal will lose its charm. You can also hang a mirror on top or near your refrigerator, try it for yourself.

#6. Eat Healthy Snacks between Meals

The purpose of snacking between meals is to help lower your caloric intake, well that can’t be achieved by snacking upon a bag of chips. Snacks can help you melt the extra pounds, but only when you make the right choices. Fruits, salads, nuts are the ideal foods to consume between meals.  The purpose is to prevent yourself from starving as that may cause you to overeat.

#7. Add A Little Spice

It sounds like good news for all the spice lovers out there. But let me tell you that bulking up on the hot sauce with the pizza won’t help you lose weight. Incorporating spices in a balanced diet may help you burn fat. Spices such as black pepper, jalapenos, habaneros, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and ginger are all great for weight loss. Now, how do the spices create the magic? Well, they boost the metabolic rate by increasing your body temperature. Piperine in ground black pepper and capsaicin in the chilies are substances that promote weight loss. Ginger aids digestion and may decrease your appetite.

#8. Chew Your Food More

Gulping food down quickly adds to the piling up of pounds as you are unable to realize the quantity of food you are eating. Thoroughly chewing the food lowers the pace you eat at. This gives you a chance to analyze your intake and also increases satiety, in a way it tells your brain to eat less.

#9. Play Games with Your Mind

Another way to trick your mind into eating less is getting smaller plates and bowls. Research revealed that people consumed about 30% less than their usual diet when they used small-sized crockery. Using heavy dinnerware may keep you feeling full for longer times. So go to the market and get yourself some small sized bowls. Also, ensure that you have healthy and good quality cookware that doesn’t cause any harmful reactions to your food.

#10. Measure the Calories

Keeping track of your calories is essential for many reasons. You can quickly calculate your overall consumption and burn an equal amount of calories via exercise. The next step is to record it somewhere for you to compare and analyze. You can follow the old-school method of writing everything in a diary, or you can take advantage of technology and download any calorie tracking app. Write down every calorie possible, even if you merely took a few bites. Once you view the daily stats, you will become more conscious of your caloric consumption.

About The Author:

Kelly Newman is a Fitness Trainer and blogger. She loves to write about everything related to fitness and diet and wants to help people adopt a healthier lifestyle. She works with the team behind Health Listed and does extensive research to provide people actionable health and nutrition information.