7 of the Best Diet Hacks You’ve Never Heard Of

It’s no secret that the key to staying fit is eating healthy and getting plenty of regular exercise. While these are surefire ways to help you lose weight, there are also some special, more unknown, diet hacks that could also help you shed a few extra pounds. Go ahead and try them out for yourself if you’re hoping to lose a little weight this year…

1. Eat five or six small meals per day instead of three big meals

It used to be standard to eat three big meals in your day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, research^[1] has shown that it’s best to eat five or six smaller meals throughout the day instead if you’re trying to lose weight. Why does this work? Well, it turns out that every time you eat a meal, your body’s metabolism revs up. It starts a new cycle due to the thermic effect of the food you’ve just consumed, so some of the calories you eat get burned just because of the digestion process.

The foods you eat do have an impact on this as well. For example, lean protein triggers a thermic effect of up to 30%,^[2] which means you burn 30% of the calories you eat from those lean proteins you’ve consumed. Fatty foods and foods with refined carbohydrates have a low thermic effects, coming in at only 3%.^[3] By eating a lot of these foods, it’s going to cause you to see weight gain as a result.

So, if you want to accelerate your body’s natural rate of calorie burning, you want to eat those five or six smaller meals as opposed to three big meals. Eating smaller, more frequent meals can also help to control cravings and can keep your energy levels high.

2. Eat off a blue plate

This diet hack sounds a little weird, don’t you think? While you may be convinced that the color of your plate doesn’t have an impact on weight loss, studies^[4] have shown it can help you eat less. It was found that when a food’s color contrasts with the plate it was served on, people tend to consume fewer calories. The reason a blue plate is suggested is because not that many foods are blue.

Having a plate that contrasts in color compared to your food gives the appearance that you have a larger portion than you actually do. If you don’t believe it, give it a try yourself. The next time you’re preparing dinner at home, put your food on a plate that is a contrasting color from the dinner you’re serving. For example, if you’re having spaghetti with marinara sauce, ditch the red plates and go with another color instead.

3. Play a game to ward off cravings

We’ve all experienced those afternoon food cravings, whether you’re dying to get your hands on something salty or something sweet. Giving into those cravings isn’t conducive to losing weight. So, when you feel those cravings coming on, you should play a game instead. And yes, we’re giving you permission to break out the video games.

A 2014 study found that visual-based tasks, such as playing games, can actually decrease the feelings of cravings.^[5] This means that the next time you’re itching to get your hands on a bag of potato chips, you should reach for your phone instead. Play a game of Angry Birds or Candy Crush to take your mind off of the cravings and minimize the strength it has over you.

4. Put a mirror on your fridge

The last place you’d think to put a mirror is in your kitchen, but it turns out that it could be one diet hack that will help you shed a few extra pounds. Apparently, looking at ourselves before we open up the fridge can help us to lose weight and make better food choices. It’s a powerful reminder of our goal to change our bodies and can easily influence your decision. After all, you don’t want to let yourself down, do you? Hang up a mirror somewhere in your kitchen or on your fridge to stop yourself from giving into unhealthy food temptations.

5. Count your macros

Counting macros goes beyond just counting calories, which can be a frustrating task for many people. However, if you want to lose weight, it’s a good idea to be aware of exactly what you’re putting into your body. Instead of just counting calories, counting macros encourages you to count the macronutrients within a food (the grams of proteins, carbs, and fats). You have to consider your macros in conjunction with your daily calorie goal and watch the ratios of each.

Macro dieting can help you get better with portion control and show you exactly where they’re coming from. You’ll start to see just how much of an impact the foods you eat have on your body overall as you start to make healthier choices with the foods you eat. Once you start to count macros and customize a plan for your body, you’ll see yourself losing body fat within only one month.

6. Use the “burn or burn” technique

This next diet hack is one that will have you working out on a regular basis without any protesting. It’s called the “burn or burn” technique. Intrigued? Here’s what you need to do… First, you’ll want to pick a workout routine that you’d like to stick to whether that’s hitting the gym or doing a home-based workout. Then, you need to block off time in your schedule for your workout, which is essentially making an appointment with yourself. If you don’t block off the time, you probably aren’t going to commit to the workout.

Next, find a $100 bill. You could use another denomination bill, but it will need to be an amount that you would hate to lose, such as $50 or $20. You’ll also need to get yourself a lighter and a wall calendar. The next step is to take the $100 bill to the calendar on the day’s date and put the lighter somewhere nearby where you will see it. This gives you a choice every day. You can either burn off the calories during your workout or you can burn your money.

Now, it’s obviously illegal to burn money, but the threat of burning your $100 bill is designed to motivate you to work out. The whole reason this works is because we hate the thought of losing money. That loss is a good motivation to get you to stick to your workout routine and burn off those calories instead of watching your money burn.

7. Eat food high in water content to make you feel fuller faster

Did you know that if you start a meal by eating foods that have a high water content, it helps to promote fullness? It also helps to slow down the digestive process and you’ll be less likely to overeat. Beans, legumes, vegetables, and fruits are just some of the foods that are high in water content. Try starting your next meal by eating one of these so you don’t have to worry about eating too much of the calorie-dense foods on your plate.

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