Two simple ways for boomers to eat less

No question about it, we can’t eat like we once did … at least not if we want to be as fit as we once were. Lorie Eber, a personal trainer and BoomerCafé contributor, has some ideas to give us some discipline. And she says they’re simple. Yes, just Two Simple Ways To Eat Less.

For baby boomers, our problem today isn’t filling up our bellies, but restraining ourselves from continuing to eat until we resemble Humpty Dumpty because the older we get, the easier it is to be Humpty. Mass quantities of food are all around us, calling to us to eat up. Snacks pervade office kitchens, supplied by employers as Friday treats and by co-workers who bring in leftover birthday cake so everyone else can get fat.

Not only that, our biology is in a time warp, still primed to conserve calories based on the outmoded concern that more food might be hard to come by. This double whammy has created many a rotund physique and a booming market for plus-sizes. These days, at this age, a prodigious effort is called for to limit your consumption to what a human body needs to function. We’re packing on the pounds. In 2015, it’s a battle royal to resist the constant onslaught of junk food and stay healthy.

The go-to answers are a waste of time. There is no magic fat burning pill, despite what Dr. Oz says. And forget diets and trainers. They create temporary, artificial environments that are impossible to maintain on a permanent basis. You can’t live on the science projects Nutrisystems calls meals or put Jillian Michaels on lifetime retainer. The key is to accept the reality of our super-sized sedentary world and conquer it. It requires that we learn new skills.

No need to fret. Just adopt these two easy strategies and you’ll be able to remain an outlier from the plump majority.

Go on the No-See Food Diet

Lorie Eber, wellness coach.

This is the antithesis of the old joke about being on the see-food diet. It’s based on the simple premise that if you stay out of harm’s way by minimizing your exposure to tempting treats, you’ll be a lot less likely to overeat.

Adopt the no-see food diet and you won’t have to expend so much willpower to get through the day. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

Ten Proven Techniques

1. Don’t let your shopping cart go down the aisles with the junk food
2. Dispose of or hide the junk food that’s already in your house
3. Change your driving route to avoid the most tempting drive-thrus
4. Eat at home so you have control over what you eat
5. Bring your own lunch rather than picking up take-out
6. Avoid the office kitchen on donut/bagel day
7. Share a single entrée when you eat in restaurants
8. Stop watching cooking shows that make your mouth water
9. Leave the room during the tempting food commercials
10. Avoid buffets like the plague

Slow Down and Enjoy the Food

Food is one of the joys of life and by eating at warp speed we’re sadly missing out on that pleasure. We eat mindlessly, gobbling down food faster than a Snapchat video disappears. The speedier the food inhalation, the more we consume, and the less we enjoy it. How many times have you sat down with a bag of chips while you binged on Netflix and promised yourself you’d just eat a handful? I’ll bet before you got through the second episode of Parks and Rec, the bottom of the bag was staring at you.

How about if we downshift a bit? Then we might have a fighting chance to give our guts the 20 minutes they need to send the “I’m full” signal to our brains. Too daunting? Try these strategies.

Ten More Proven Techniques

1. When you eat, stop doing everything else and actually pay attention
2. Put your fork down between bites
3. Drink water before and with your meals
4. Use small plates and fluted wine glasses
5. Take small bites and chew your food, slowly
6. Eat your vegetables first
7. Don’t go for seconds
8. If you have a sweet tooth, satisfy it with two or three bites
9. Don’t drink your calories
10. There’s an app for that: “Eat Slower”