You can learn a lot by watching a young child eat. They carefully inspect their food, smelling and touching it, before cramming it into their mouth. They push away their plate as soon as they are full and they don't dive into a bag of Oreos because they feel lonely. In fact, young children are masters at "intuitive eating". New research shows that the practice of mindfully listening to your body's natural hunger cues insead of dieting or emotionally eating can help you lose weight and get healthier. Women who eat intuitively have lower BMIs than non intuitive eaters; they also report higher levels of appreciation for their own bodies. Other stuides show that mindful eating can reduce binge eating and lower cholesterol levels and cardiovascular-disease risk. Anyone can learn to tap into inner food cues. Eating can be an automatic behavior, almost like brushing your teeth or tying your shoes, so its important to focus all of your attention on it instead of just gobbling. First before you even pick up that chip, slow down and ask yourself these six questions.

Figure out if your craving is from the neck up or shoulders down. In other words, is it emotionally-driven or true hunger? Do you obsess over chocolate all afternoon or seek comfort in a pint of ice cream? Distract yourself from emotional eating by calling a friend or reading a book. If you hear your stomach rumbling or feel low on energy, that's actual hunger, so eat something.

That's the amount of time it takes for your brain to recognize satiety. Most of us wolf down our food faster than that and keep on eating, because we can't tell how full we actually are. The more slowly you eat, the more you will enjoy your food and the more satisfied you will feel.

Mindful eating means being aware of a food's taste and texture, even the sounds areound you - to help you natually slow down and get more pleasure from your meal. Close your eyes for a moment to enjoy flavours without anything interfering.

Eating while driving, munching during a television show or chowing down at your desk limits your ability to truly pay attention to what's going on in your mouth.

Just as you would think about when to start eating, tune in to when you should stop. You should feel satisfied but not completely full. Try pausing after half of your food is gone and watch portion sizes. Keep them small if you need visual cues so you know when to quit.

Go for it! Ditch the diet mentality and make peace with previously off-limits foods. Giving yourself permission to indulge can help intense cravings dwindle, but set boundaries for yourself. Use individually packaged servings like a single wrapped piece of chocolate to stay on track. If you buy a giant cookie, immediately divide it up into quarters and put all but one portion away before you end up eating the whole thing!