Eating a balanced diet is important for making sure your body gets all of the nutrients in the right amounts to keep you feeling satisfied while eating less. Try to eat a diet comprised of 30% healthy carbs, 20% each of fruits and vegetables, 10% each of dairy and meat, and as little fat and sugar as possible.  Healthy carbs include rye, quinoa, oatmeal, brown rice, and other nutrient-rich grains. Choose fruits and vegetables that are rich in nutrients and low in sugars, such as citrus fruits, kale, arugula, and spinach. Many people don’t realize how much they eat or how often they’re eating during the day. Keeping a food diary for a few days can help you realize what parts of your diet need adjusting.  Some people also choose to keep track of how they’re feeling and what they’re doing when they eat to notice patterns in emotional eating. Additionally, you should keep track of how long it takes you to eat each meal or snack. Eating slowly can help you feel full quickly. Water can help you feel full between meals and curb cravings while not expanding your stomach like food would. However, you can also get water from vegetables like cucumbers, broccoli, carrots, and fruits such as watermelon, plums, and apples. Alternatively, if you don’t like the taste of water alone, you can drink tea or flavored water. Check the label on the back of the packaging for saturated and trans fats, which are unhealthy and can cause you to gain weight. Empty calories include almost no nutrients and they should also be avoided.  Examples of empty calories include white bread, chips, cookies, jam, fruit juices, soda, and most sugary breakfast cereals. Foods high in saturated and trans fats include margarine, chips, crackers, store-bought baked goods, many frozen foods, coconut, butter, and processed meat. At home, you can make sure you’re not overeating by placing leftover food in the refrigerator after putting a serving on your plate. You can take control of your portions while eating out by splitting an entree with someone, or only eating half of what is served on the plate and taking the rest home. Store tempting foods out of the way so that you’re not able to access them easily. Many people overeat because they don’t know when they feel full, causing their stomachs to expand temporarily to accommodate the food before digesting it. Take your time when you eat, chew each bite thoroughly, and drink water between bites. Your body will signal your brain when you’ve eaten enough. The normal capacity of the stomach without any food in it is 200 mL, but when it comes time to eat, some people’s stomachs can relax to accommodate 1 liter of food or more.

Summary:
Eat a balanced diet. Keep track of everything that you eat. Drink plenty of water between meals. Eat fewer unhealthy fats and empty calories. Practice portion control when preparing and eating meals. Eat slowly and only until you start to feel full.