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When it comes to losing weight we often focus on what we are eating-- is it high fat or high carbohydrate?
Dr. Kim Mulvihill is working with a group of dieters that is learning there are two other elements essential to shedding pounds.
Paying attention to what you eat is obviously important on any weight loss program. But there's more to it than that.
You also have to pay attention to how much you eat-- namely portion size-- and how fast you eat it.
Portion size is easy. If the muffin you are eating is as big as a softball, just eating one does not count as a low calorie snack.
According to the World Health Organization a standard muffin serving is one and a half ounces. That's about the size of a large egg.
Try finding one that size in a bakery.
One baked potato should be the size of a computer mouse, a serving of cheese should be about the size of six dice.
And what about meat or fish?
Jane Tien, R.D./ California Pacific Medical Center Nutritionist: "Do you have a deck of cards at home? A deck of cards is a portion, three ounces."
Jane Tien is a diet and nutrition expert at California Pacific Medical Center. She says by paying more attention to portion size, you will have a better idea of just how much you are eating overall.
Another important aspect is how fast you eat. A lot of people eat so fast they can barely taste their food.
Jane Tien, R.D.: "It takes 20 minutes before the stomach sends a message to the brain saying, 'Hey, I'm full. I don't need any more.' But for people who eat fast, they can eat two meals in that 20 minutes time."
Jane says to help you slow down you should pay attention to every mouthfull of food.
That doesn't mean chewing each one 28 times, but it does mean not gobbling and swallowing before you have had a chance to taste it.
Our ultimate weight loss challengers have found some ways to help them slow down.
Andy Richman/ Eats Slowly: "The trick I tried is I started eating with chopsticks, because it slows me down."
The more aware you are of how much and how fast you are eating, the better your chances of losing weight and keeping it off.
