11 Weight Loss Secrets You Aren’t Told About

• Drink a glass of water before each meal. This simple fix can help you shed pounds faster, according to a study published in Obesity Research.

• Use smaller plates and bowls. In one study from the University of California, Santa Barbara, people who ate from seven-inch dishes served 22 percent less ice cream than those who used 10-inch bowls.

• Chew each bite thoroughly, until the food begins to look like liquid in your mouth. Science has proven that this strategy can help you eat less. When Penn State researchers gave people a choice between strawberries and chocolate candies after lunch, they tended to pick the treats when they had chomped for just 30 seconds, while those who chewed for two minutes were more likely to choose the fruit.

• Relax before you eat. A study from Stanford University showed that women who responded to stress with anger, hostility and aggression wound up weighing more than those who dealt with their anxieties in a calmer way.

• Enjoy your food while you’re eating it—no multitasking. Women who focused on their meals and ate slowly lost an average of 24 percent more weight than those who scarfed down their food while watching TV, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

• Don’t eat when you’re hungry—eat when you’re bored. In a Brigham Young University study, people who snacked on pistachios instead of potato chips felt just as full but ate 12 percent less food overall.

• Fill up on soup. In a study from the University of Nebraska, people who ate broth-based soup before a meal consumed 10 percent fewer calories during their next meal than those who started with a salad.

• Snack at your desk, not in front of the TV. People who offered their office colleagues free samples of a new cereal—whether they wanted it or not—ate far less, on average, at their next meal than those who had snacked privately before sitting down to lunch.

• Eat your vegetables first! In a study from Purdue University, people who ate their veggies before their entrée were 21 percent less likely to have a big evening meal than those who waited for the meat course.

• Don’t go out to dinner with your family on Sunday night—go on Monday instead. When Cornell University scientists studied two years of restaurant-diet records, they found that couples ate 20 percent fewer calories at restaurants on Mondays than they did on Fridays.

• Give yourself the gift of Downton Abbey. According to a study from Providence College, hearing just six minutes of Edwardian-era music—a playlist that included works by Cole Porter and George Gershwin—helped people eat slower and less during an informal meal afterward.