Mom's dieting tips still work

Your mother may have been right.

In last week's column, I talked about some new approaches to controlling your weight. This week, let's look at others that are tried-and-true: old dieting tips from your mother's generation that still make sense today.

For example:

Eat on a small plate. Using a luncheon-sized plate instead of a dinner plate for main meals should result in smaller portion sizes.

You can have the appearance of a full plate but you'll eat less and take in fewer calories.

Don't eat before bedtime. If you've eaten supper today, it's likely that the urge to eat again later is prompted by habit, not hunger.

Many cues in our environment trigger conditioned eating responses. A favorite TV show, a calm moment in the evening, or relaxing on the sofa and reading the paper are activities that I sometimes pair with a snack. Watch for your own cues.

Over time, you may have become conditioned to eat at those times, hungry or not. Break the cycle by breaking the habit.

Join Weight Watchers. It's a relatively inexpensive program, and it offers good support.

The support of others is a key ingredient in maintaining motivation and helping you through the predictable slumps. Plus, Weight Watchers uses a sensible approach that you can follow for the long haul.

And remember: You are in this for the long haul.

Eat slowly, and put your fork down between bites. Chewing each bite 30 times before swallowing may be a bit much, but the general idea for all of these tips is that they help curb your calorie intake by helping you stop when you've had enough.

If you slow down your rate of eating, you give your body a chance to feel a sense of fullness. If you feel full, you're not as likely to keep eating.

On the other hand, if you wolf the food down within minutes, you're likely to eat more than you need before your body sends the signal that you're full.

Eat small, frequent meals, and don't skip breakfast. The rationale is that you will be less likely to become ravenous, lose control and eat too much.

Eating snack-size mini meals several times a day, rather than eating one to three big meals each day, may help some people keep their blood sugar more stable and help to fend off the munchies between meals.

By never letting yourself get too hungry, you may head off impulsive binges on high-calorie, convenience foods like chips and cookies.

Weigh yourself every day. There's nothing wrong with the practice for most of us, and keeping close tabs on your weight can permit you to catch small gains and compensate by cutting back.

By weighing in the morning, for example, an uptick on the scale may prompt you to choose a lighter lunch that day.

Catching and correcting small fluctuations in your weight can keep you from trending upward over time. And as we all know, it's easier to prevent weight gain than it is to lose added pounds.

Keep these tips in your tool kit and take them out when you need to try something new. They may be old, but they still work.