Simply eating a lighter lunch can prompt weight loss

Losing weight without dieting, going hungry or using an expensive high-protein liquid diet can be as simple as eating a smaller lunch, reports a new Cornell study that is online and will be published in the journal Appetite in October. Most importantly, the researchers found that when volunteers ate a lighter lunch, they were no hungrier than usual and didn't compensate by eating more later in the day or week to make up for the fewer calories eaten. David Levitsky, professor of nutritional sciences and of psychology at Cornell, and graduate student Carly Pacanowski set out to test their theory that one reason why high-protein liquid meal replacements are effective for weight loss is they consist of smaller portions and compensation does not occur at subsequent meals. They devised a five-week eating study, where the food intake of 17 paid volunteers was measured Mondays through Fridays. For the first week, all 17 ate whatever they wanted from a buffet. For the next two weeks, half the group selected their lunch by choosing one of six commercially available portion-controlled foods, such as Chef Boyardee Pasta or Campbell's Soup at Hand, as a substitute for the buffet lunch, but they could eat as much as they wished at other meals or snacks. For the final two weeks, the other half of the volunteers chose a portion-controlled lunch.