1. Don't Do Anything Else While You're Eating
You're trying to bring mindfulness and consciousness to the table when it comes to eating so that you can reduce some of the automatic eating that takes place when you're thinking about other things. A good way to do that is to make eating time eating time, not reading the paper time or watching television time. The more you can do this, the better, and the less likely you are to consume food while you barely notice you're consuming it!

2. Eat Slowly and Savor Every Bite
Here's another tip you can file under "Grandmother knew best." The fact is that chewing your food slowly and thoroughly, putting your fork down between bites and actually enjoying what you're eating can help you lose weight. Here's why. The brain doesn't really get the message "Hey, he's full!" from the stomach until about 20 minutes after you've eaten enough. That's how long it takes for the hormone CCK to do its job and signal "Enough!" to the brain. So fast eaters frequently overeat before their brain gets the signal that they're not really hungry anymore. You can go a long way toward enhancing natural appetite control by taking advantage of your body's excellent communication network, but you need to give it enough time to work! Also, eating slowly and actually experiencing your food works against the kind of unconscious, mindless eating that caused you to put on weight in the first place.

3. Eat the Bulk of Your Food Earlier in the Day
Adele Davis used to say, "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper." She was right. One important study showed that when people were fed a 2,000-calorie meal for breakfast (and nothing else during the day), they lost weight, but when they were fed the exact same meal at night, they gained. Spread your food out during the day to control your blood sugar and insulin levels, but try not to eat too much in the evening.

4. Eat Breakfast Every Day
When you skip breakfast, among the many other negative things that happen is that insulin release is greater at the next meal than it would otherwise have been. Blood sugar is destabilized. You're more likely to be subject to cravings. In all likelihood, you're running on empty and masking it with coffee. If you're one of those people who have no appetite in the morning, it's probably because you've just conditioned yourself to this unnatural way of eating. A good place to start with the rehabilitation of your appetite is with a protein shake. Even people who are not hungry in the morning can get one of these babies down, especially if it's delicious and made with good extras like berries or a tablespoon of peanut butter. Eventually, you should transition to a real-food breakfast (at least for most days), and make sure it contains protein and some good fats. If you need some additional motivation: At least seven studies have found a correlation between being overweight and skipping breakfast.

5. Eat Protein at Every Meal
Every single meal should have protein in it. Ideally, so should every snack. Protein has less of an effect on insulin than carbs do, is more satisfying and requires more energy (calories) to break down and assimilate. The body recognizes protein (and fat) as something that you have a need for; therefore, the appetite-control mechanisms that send messages from your gut to your brain signaling that you've had enough food work well with protein (something they do not do with carbohydrates). A greater ratio of protein to carbohydrate at a meal stabilizes blood sugar and reduces insulin response. And new research suggests that leucine, an amino acid found in protein, specifically helps you to maintain muscle mass while losing body fat during weight loss.

6. Bring Your Own (Food, That Is)
One problem for a lot of my clients is that they don't know how to stay on their eating plan once they're out and about, running around or stuck at the office. That's probably because the whole world is set up for quick and easy junk food, and chicken breasts don't fit in a vending machine. Don't be a victim of circumstance. Take control of your own life. Start thinking about packing your own lunches, or at the very least your own snacks. Bodybuilders have been doing it for decades. You can, too.