Satisfying your craving for your favorite snack such as chocolates doesn't mean that you need to finish the entire bar. According to a recent study on ScienceDaily.com, only a small portion or a bite is enough.

Researchers Ellen van Kleef, Mitsuru Shimizu, and Brian Wansink from Cornell University worked with volunteers who were separated into two groups--one group was given 100g of chocolate, 200g of apple pie, and 80g of potato chips, which amounted to 1,370 calories. The other group only had 10g of chocolate, 40g of apple pie, and 10g of potato chips, for a total of 195 calories. Both groups ate their snacks at their desired pace and were then asked to fill out surveys and rate how much they still craved for what they just ate 15 minutes after they finished.

Interestingly, the results showed that those who ate less were as satisfied as those who ate more.

This neat trick is a great way to avoid those excess calories -- instead of eating an entire bag of chips, you can satisfy your craving with just a small handful. The key is not to binge but to pace yourself, and you may actually be off to a great start with weight management.

(Photo by Food Thinkers via Flickr Creative Commons)