Most reliable method in my own experience: simply eat less.
Eat your normal amount of meals, shovel it in your mouth, but stop before finishing the whole portion. I eat maybe 75% of each meals and toss the remaining bits. Do it for a couple months and watch the weight magically shed off.
It works because it requires no change in meal-type habits; it’s simply fewer calories. End of the day, that’s always the goal and this way is the most direct and simple
When the meals come where it’s hard to stop at 75%, I force myself to toss my napkin and utensils on the plate ensuring the food is now “dirty”. So altogether, it’s very few behavior changes make for a foolproof method.
It is quite rational but it's difficult to be rational when you're hungry; it's easier to cut on food when you have calm down your stomach. Like don't go shopping when hungry, you will buy more unhealthy food.
This approach is extremely ineffective for me. I find I have a lot of will-power before I start eating, but once I begin it's very hard to get myself to stop. The best solution for me is to skip meals, and then allow myself to eat larger meals when I do eat. For instance, if I eat two meals a day instead of three, my lunch and dinner might be 10-20% larger than they would have been had I eaten breakfast, but that's still significantly less total calories for the day.
I think the best method is to understand your own patterns, and to find ways to reduce caloric consumption which are going to require the least amount of will-power for you and will cause the least amount of psychological stress. The exact method is going to be different for different people.
Eat your normal amount of meals, shovel it in your mouth, but stop before finishing the whole portion. I eat maybe 75% of each meals and toss the remaining bits. Do it for a couple months and watch the weight magically shed off.
It works because it requires no change in meal-type habits; it’s simply fewer calories. End of the day, that’s always the goal and this way is the most direct and simple
When the meals come where it’s hard to stop at 75%, I force myself to toss my napkin and utensils on the plate ensuring the food is now “dirty”. So altogether, it’s very few behavior changes make for a foolproof method.