Make small changes.

Small changes make a big difference. Fats have more calories per gram than proteins or carbohydrates. Studies show that people were no less hungry or stayed fuller longer on a low or high fat meal. All that happened on a meal of high fat foods is the individuals took in more calories. It takes 30 minutes before hormones kick in that tell your body you are full. If you are eating calorie dense or high fat foods, you can eat a lot more calories in 30 minutes. So eat less high fat foods and more higher fibre foods. Research shows the more variety there is to choose from, the more we eat. Just think of the last buffet table, "all you can eat" or potluck dinner you went to. People who eat the greatest variety of vegetables though have the least body fat.

Practical tips: add a vegetable or fruit to your lunch and dinner; prepare some raw vegetables for easy-to-eat snacks; carry dried fruits (cranberries, raisins, apricots) for a portable snack; add frozen mixed vegetables to pasta sauce and replace some of the fat in muffin recipes with pureed sweet potatoes, carrots or applesauce.

Watch beverages

Calories from liquids add up quickly without filling you up. Researchers at Indiana’s Purdue University showed this point when they asked a group of people to eat 450 calories worth of jelly beans for 4 weeks and then asked them to drink 450 calories worth of soft drinks for another 4 weeks. During the jelly-bean leg of the study, the people automatically reduced their food choices by about 450 calories, so they did not end up eating more calories overall. But during the soft drink phase, there was no decrease in food choices; overall calories went up by about 450 per day. The act of biting and chewing may trigger an internal signal that drinking a liquid does not. The stomach may also sense solid foods more acutely than it does liquid.

Take a look at the calories in the drinks below: