5 Principles to Help You Lose Weight

1. We all need to see a full plate to feel that we've had a "meal." Fill your plate with vegetables and start with them. The feeling of fullness comes only about twenty minutes after eating when signals from the stomach reach the brain, so it's better to start the meal with low-calorie foods. For the same reason, it's important to chew and eat slowly, and not finish the plate in two minutes. The sensation of fullness at such an early stage hasn't arrived yet, so even if we consumed a sufficient amount of food, we still feel hungry and continue to eat. Many studies have examined the link between fast eating and an increased risk of obesity. One study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found that the group required to eat more slowly reported an increased feeling of fullness an hour after the meal.

This is why when you eat too fast and continue eating at that pace until you feel full, a few minutes later you feel an unpleasant sensation of a 'stuffed belly.' To avoid this, eat slowly, not too much, and simply wait...

2. Remove from your vocabulary "It's a shame to throw away" or "I'm only eating so that nothing goes to waste." We all know the unpleasant feeling of throwing away plates full of food the kids left, or a pot that no one will eat from anymore, and if it isn't eaten today, it will be thrown away. Then, instead of respectfully getting rid of the food leftovers, we decide to fulfill the commandment of "do not waste" with reverence and love, transferring the contents directly into our own stomachs. I ask you, how is it okay to turn our stomach into the family trash can? Halacha says "do not waste the body" is more important. Damaging your body is a more severe form of "do not waste" than throwing food into the trash.
So next time you encounter leftover food about to be thrown away, remind yourself—my health is more important than this piece of schnitzel...

3. It's important to drink plenty of water. Sometimes the sensation of thirst is mistaken for hunger, so it's quite possible that what you feel is just a lack of fluids, and a glass of water will eliminate the hunger. It's recommended to drink two glasses of water before each meal to fill the stomach with fluids, quell hunger, and reduce food intake. Additionally, water increases the body's metabolism and enhances the digestive system's activity.

4. Between meals, snack on vegetables or fruit to avoid reaching a state of extreme hunger, which causes us to eat far more than we actually need. Consuming too much food at a meal causes insulin levels to rise (a hormone that among its functions builds tissue and cells and stores energy in the form of glycogen and fat), and delays weight loss.

5. Check with yourself if you're eating out of a feeling of hunger or due to unpleasant emotions like sadness, anger, or worry. Emotional eating is one of the most common causes of overweight because food provides a kind of temporary comfort. Consider if your emotions are driving you toward the fridge, and if so, find alternatives to ease the emotional pain, like talking to a friend about the source of the problem, listening to an empowering lecture that might give you the strength to cope, consulting with a rabbi/rabbinate/advisor familiar with the subject, praying to Hashem, reading miracle stories of people who were in the same situation, and more.