7 Mental Tricks That Shed Pounds

Don't Waste It!

THE LOGIC: Leaving food on my plate (or my kids') means throwing it away -- not good home economics!

It's a message we hear our whole lives: You don't waste perfectly good food when there are kids starving in Africa! But nibbling the cold mac-and-cheese off your 4-year-old's plate doesn't help anyone. Nor does eating the entire carton of bland fat-free frozen yogurt you bought but hated after the first bite.

Change your mind: Never feel guilty for getting rid of extra food. Eating more than your body needs counts as wasting food too -- it just gets dumped in your fat cells instead of the garbage can. Chucking that 1.75-quart container of fro-yo (minus the one serving you ate) would save you 1,170 calories -- that's one-third of a pound of jiggly body fat. Try reducing recipes so you make only as many servings as you have people. Give kids who don't clean their plates smaller portions; if they're still hungry, they'll let you know.