Train Your Tastebuds To Help With Your Weight Loss

It's the age-old saying: Your eyes are bigger than your stomach, and when it comes to dieting, it's one risky truth. While you may actually be physically full, your brain has not yet registered the feeling and your eyes will just keep searching for more. But you can finally kick that habit, once and for all, by utilizing and training your taste buds.

"Having a clean mouth reduces the desire to eat because most people don't want to mask that just-brushed freshness feeling," says Lydia Maree, dental hygienist and Tighten Your Tummy assistant fitness coach. 

So the next time you feel a craving or think you're still hungry and may overeat, try one or two of these proven strategies to dull the urge to continue munching:

1. Floss your teeth with different-flavored flosses (mint, bubble gum, cinnamon, cherry, or grape).

2. Brush your teeth with different-flavored toothpastes (bubble gum, spearmint, wintergreen, or cherry).

3. Scrape or brush your tongue with a toothbrush.

4. Have a stick of low-calorie or sugar-free gum when you feel the onset of hunger. 

5. Sprinkle cinnamon instead of sugar or sugar replacements. The antioxidants in the spice stabilize blood sugar and slow digestion. 

6. Suck on a sugar-free peppermint. Several studies attribute physical and psychological benefits of peppermint, and some dieters swear that the minty taste helps them ward off hunger pains. For a similar effect, try dabbing a few drops of essential peppermint oil on your tongue. 

7. Close your eyes and imagine yourself eating the food you are craving ... very slowly. Think about the texture of the food and how it makes you feel afterward. Practice this visualization exercise repeatedly to reduce your cravings. 

8. Change up your food choices to alter the texture of foods that you eat to reduce hunger pains. Go from crunchy to smooth to sticky to tacky and alternate the patterns frequently. Textures of food become very important to dieters, so vary your choices to improve your chance for success. 

9. Use flavored lip balm like grape or cherry that you can taste when you lick your lips to reduce cravings. 

10. Chew your food well to benefit your mouth beyond the tasty-on-the-tongue factor. Not only does food taste better the more you chew, chewing also increases saliva production, helping to digest bacteria that can lead to plaque buildup. The more you break your food down in your mouth, the less work there is for your stomach and intestines. This can mean less gas and bloating and better elimination. Your intestines also have an easier time pulling micronutrients out of well-chewed food than big chunks, which provides your body with more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and amino acids. 

Adapted from Tighten Your Tummy in 2 Weeks

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