I have a friend who makes herself a sandwich for lunch every single day. She considers it an easy and cheap lunch, plus she can control how many calories she's eating based on what she puts in there and thus helping to maintain her figure. That's a pretty good plan, right?
Well, one thing that I bet she (nor I) knew until now: cutting your sandwich a certain way can actually help you lose weight!
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A recent study by Arizona State University found that "cutting certain foods into pieces before digging in could help you feel more satiated and lead you to eat less overall," according to Women's Health magazine. In the study, students who were given a bagel with cream cheese precut into quarters actually ate a lot less of it AND less food at a buffet 20 minutes later than the students who were given a whole bagel. Why is that? Devina Wadhera, who designed and analyzed the study, explains:
The whole idea is to trick your mind to think you're eating a lot from a plate. When food is cut into pieces, it looks like there's more of it, so our eyes trick our stomach into thinking we are eating a lot more than we actually are.
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So what's the best way to eat that sandwich? Cut it into smaller pieces, of course! Don't just halve it, cut it into four pieces instead.
I've actually been doing this with bagels for years and, without realizing it, I've definitely found that it takes me forever to eat a whole bagel when it's quartered. Usually I end up giving up and saving some of it for the next day. If doing the same with my sandwiches is going to help me lose weight, then I'm definitely game!
Image via Food Thinkers/flickr
