The Mindless Margin says you can eat a bit less - or more - without even noticing.

It's a one to two hundred calorie buffer zone that, when you're within your normal range of calories that you eat every day, you can either go over – or under - by one or two hundred calories and your body doesn't really register the difference.

Our brains are wired for autopilot – they love routine and efficiency. But constantly being mindful about every bite is too exhausting for the brain. Makes sense, right?

Now, if this mindless margin has you consistently eating more, you could gain weight, then scratch your head and wonder how it happened, since you haven't noticed yourself eating “more!”

But it’s the same the other way around. You can eat slightly less, without your body really “noticing” and gradually drop any extra weight. Pretty cool, huh!

So here are a few ideas on how you may be able to do just that.

How to mindlessly eat less:

Size Matters - Buy slightly smaller dinner plates.
Dinner plates range from around 24cm to 30cm – or bigger – in diameter. Some have a rim around the edge, making the central plating part smaller again. I’m not an advocate of putting your dinner on bread and butter plates, but having slightly smaller dinner plates (24cm-ish) for your everyday use is a sensible approach, as it can help you plate up, and therefore eat, slightly less.

Set the Scene - Where you eat matters. Sitting at a table and eating off a plate can help you consume less than if you're lounging on the couch watching t.v. while eating.

Your environment can also really influence your eating habits. Bright lights and fast music can make you eat faster and more mindlessly. So opt for dimmer lighting and slower tunes to create a more relaxed eating vibe. You'll be less likely to get reflux too!!

So if you're wanting to drop some weight, test these ideas out, see what happens and let me know if it helps you to mindlessly eat slightly less :)