The people of Okinawa eat until they’re 80% full. They even have a name for this naturally slimming habit: hara hachi bu. We can adopt this healthy habit by dishing out 20% less on our plates or leaving 20% behind.

Does it make you uncomfortable to leave food behind? I used to feel that way. I broke the habit of cleaning my plate by first leaving just one bite behind. Even that was hard! I realized it symbolized “not getting everything” to me. I felt I was missing out on something if I didn’t get every bite. I wanted more, more, more. I had to eat a lot of food and become very uncomfortable before I could say “enough.”

Leaving one bite became two, then three.

I slowly worked my way to actually stopping eating when my body said to. I realized it was my mind saying “more, more, more”, not my body.

Now, today I may want “more, more, more” of many things: time with a friend, some downtime, laughter, unconditional regard… but not food.

How can you apply this tip to your food behavior?

Warning! It’s EASY. You won’t fry your liver or struggle implementing this tip. Can that be OK?

How would it feel to make an easy change that has big impact?