Diets typically focus on eating less, but choosing the right foods could allow you to eat more and still lose weight.

Tony Hamilton and his wife, Martha McKinney, both consume what are considered low-calorie, dense foods.

"It doesn't make it to the point where my buttons are bursting full, but it does make it where I can wait a few hours to eat again," McKinney said.

The vegetables in their diets such as celery, lettuce, cabbage and cucumbers have about eight to 10 calories per half-cup serving.

"We could eat two cups of those and have less than 50 calories, and have a large volume of food," Baylor Dietitian Julie Bender said.

In fact, according to the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers found that those who ate low-calorie foods actually ate more, but consumed less calories.

"Considering it takes a while to chew half the things, that's where chewing can help shed pounds," McKinney said.

It is believed that the digestion process burns a couple hundred calories.

"To chew your food, well, you almost want to chew it to applesauce consistency," Bender said.

Desiree Sherwood practices thorough chewing and teaches the technique to her baby.

"If you take time, you'll get fuller faster," Sherwood said.

Bender said the best strategy is to eat vegetables and fruits in place of cookies and chips. She also said dieters need to cut back 500 calories a day in order to lose one pound per week.

More Info:

www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/media_9152_ENU_HTML.htm
www.cdc.gov/NCCDPHP/dnpa/nutrition/pdf/CDC_5-A-Day.pdf