Dietitian, 31, shares her foolproof ‘hack’ for ‘tricking your brain’ into thinking your full – and exactly how to portion your plate to avoid weight gain
- Rebecca Gawthorne, 31, is a dietitian from Cronulla, south of Sydney’s CBD
- She shared an Instagram video on Tuesday about eating mindfully with control
- The mother-of-one serves her meals in smaller bowls & plates to trick her body
- If food is on a larger bowl with space around it the brain thinks it’s not enough
- In terms of portion control, plates should be half-filled with coloured vegetables
- The other half should be split between carbs and a palm-sized piece of protein
An Australian dietitian has shared a foolproof hack for tricking your brain into thinking your full – and all you need is a smaller bowl or plate.
Rebecca Gawthorne, 31, from Cronulla in Sydney’s south, shared a video on Instagram showing viewers the ‘trick’ and how it works when you’re eating your breakfast.
‘If you struggle with portion control or eating too much, try this simple hack – serve your meals on smaller plates and bowls,’ she said.
Rebecca Gawthorne , 31, who lives in Cronulla, south of Sydney’s CBD, shared a video on Instagram showing viewers the ‘trick’ and how it works when you’re eating your breakfast
‘If you struggle with portion control or eating too much, try this simple hack – serve your meals on smaller plates and bowls,’ she said
‘These two bowls have the exact same amount of muesli and yoghurt in them. But the smaller bowl looks like it has more.
‘When you use smaller bowls and plates like this, you unconsciously serve yourself smaller portions and eat less. But you feel just as full and satisfied as your brain perceives the smaller bowl to have more food in it as it looks full.’
For reference, Rebecca showed what her meal looked like in a larger bowl – and it did look unsatisfying compared to the smaller bowl.
For reference, Rebecca showed what her meal looked like in a larger bowl – and it did look unsatisfying compared to the smaller bowl
‘I still recommend listening to your body’s hunger and fullness signals when using this hack, but it’s a great place to start,’ she said.
Earlier in Australia Rebecca explained how to fill your plates with the appropriate amount of food to avoid weight gain.
She said plates should be half-filled with a mixture of different coloured vegetables packed with vitamins and minerals which form the basis of a well-balanced, nutritious diet.
A perfectly portioned plate: Half-filled with vegetables with the remainder split between palm-sized pieces of protein and fist-sized piles of carbs
Colourful veggies (left) should occupy half the plate while the other side (right) should be filled with carbs roughly the size of your clenched fist, and protein the size of your palm
The other half should be split evenly between ‘slow-burning’ carbs like rice, pasta or potato, and protein like meat, fish, eggs or beans.
Carbs should be roughly the size of your clenched fist while protein should match the size of your palm.
The meal should be seasoned with one or two tablespoons of healthy fats like cheese, avocado, nuts or seeds.