Trying to lose weight? You should totes cut up your food into smaller pieces. According to Yet Another Study (researchers at Arizona State University), multiple, smaller portions of your food can trick your mind into feeling more satisfied after a meal.
College students were given a snack of bagels with cream cheese: Some got whole bagels while others got their bagels cut into quarters (you know, as if they were preschoolers). Then they had a meal -- and the students with the cut-up bagels ate less!
So does this mean we should serve all our food cut up into pieces, toddler-style? What would that be like?
If you're eating steak, that makes sense: Serve it fajita style. Pork chop? Carve it up. Corn on the cob? Quarter that baby. Apple? Slices. Toast and bacon for breakfast? Break them up. Piece of cake? Pieces of cake! (Little ones.) Okay, so far so good.
More from The Stir: 'Healthiest Meal Ever' Sounds Like It's Anything But
But what about ice cream? I mean, would it make sense to get out four tiny bowls and put a mini scoop in each. Ooh, then you get to tell yourself you had FOUR BOWLS OF ICE CREAM! And you'll either die of undeserved glutton shame or you'll be like, "Yay me!" Regardless, you now have four times as many dishes to wash.
And what of peas? I mean, they're already in small pieces. Do you spread a full serving out over an extra-large plate? Maybe if you put each pea in a different room, that would work. Except, you'd probably get hungry roaming from room to room trying to find all the peas. Also, you might forget some and they'll shrivel up and roll off somewhere.
You know, taken to its logical conclusions, this theory of portion size and feeling full is just a little bit complicated.
Do you ever cut up your food into smaller portions before eating it?
Image via Hudson, The/Flickr
This Hot Dad Wants to Do Your Ironing
This Hot Dad Wants to Cook You Dinner
This Hot Dad Cooks AND Does the Dishes
Kanye West is Gay?! 
Comments 12
Cutting all of your food into small pieces is a classic symptom of anorexia. I am not saying that this kind of behavior always leads to eating disorders, but you should be careful not to form to many rituals around food. If you are struggling with your diet, it might be worth a shot, though.
It really is all about portion control. I know a lot of people (myself included) who grab a bunch of food and scarf it down really quickly so we can go do something else. It can sometimes be the mindset of "food is fuel" but we always tend to take too much. I know that when I take the time to prepare a meal slowly and sit down at a table without distractions I eat a lot less.
I can see how cutting your food into really small bites could help as long as you take the time to chew each piece and actually enjoy it.
I do sometimes
In Weight Watchers they told me to eat off a smaller plate that way it looked like I was eating a lot. It actually worked.