Behavioral Modifications

Portion-control can help you to lose weight with a little less effort. Here are some ideas on how to trick yourself into eating less by simply downsizing your table setting.

Plates: Keep them saucer-size (6 in. diameter)

Bowls: The bigger the bowl, the more you'll put in it. Stick with small ones or consider using a teacup or mug for foods you tend to gulp down, like cereal and ice cream. Save the giant bowls for salad and broth-based soups so you can fill up on fewer calories.

Glasses: According to a study in the Journal of Consumer Research, adults pour about 19 percent more liquid into short, wide glasses than they do into tall tumblers. This may be because our brains tend to focus more on an object's height than its width, so short glasses don't appear quite as full.

Spoons: Stick with teaspoons, even to load up your plate.

Serving Dishes: People ate as much as 56 percent more when they served themselves from a one-gallon bowl than they did from a half-gallon one. Choose ceramic over glass. One study showed women ate more out of transparent containers than they did out of dishes they couldn't see through.

Candles: Skip them, or blow them out right after the salad course. When the lighting is dim, people linger over their food more, which can lead to overeating.

Centerpieces: Swap flowers for a bowl of green apples, bananas, or after-dinner mints. A recent study showed that obese and overweight people who whiffed one of those scents before each meal lost an averge of 60 pounds over 6 months.

Walls: Make them blue, it's thought to be a natural appetite suppressant.

Behavioral Assistance Programs 
Setting goals is one form of behavioral modification that should occur for success, but other personal modifications may need to be addressd as well. The following programs offer assistance in behavioral modification from smoking cessation to weight management.