Any food blogger who maintains an even mildly slim figure is sure to be bombarded with messages asking them the same basic question:

“How do you eat (insert sweet food here) and (insert fried food here) and (insert fatty meat here) and not come out looking like an overstuffed plush teddy bear?!?”

How to Stay Slim While Eating Like a Food Blogger

Even those of us who aren’t such eager questioners can admit we’ve wondered the same thing while scrolling through Instagrams of burgers in the hands of gorgeous models. After all, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense: we get pudgy pretty quickly and our food doesn’t even need to be delicious enough to photograph.

With that in mind, we here at Resource have sought to uncover the great mystery: How does one stay slim while running a food blog? Through candid interviews with successful bloggers, as well as a thorough combing of the deep web, we’ve come up with a few tips from the pros.

1. Bring Friends – Remember, the food is getting photographed, not you. If you split that picture-perfect ribeye among six friends, no one–besides your waistline–will ever know. Also, as per #cityfoodie, it helps if that friend “can eat a lot.”

How to Stay Slim While Eating Like a Food Blogger

2. No Nibbling – It’s tempting to promise yourself you’ll only have a bite, only to go back five minutes later for another, and another, and another….Don’t do that. Give yourself a whole portion, enjoy, and stop after that, satisfied and full. It’s a little counterintuitive, but Sarah of Broma Bakery writes: “my biggest secret to staying healthy is allowing myself full servings of the things I love.”

3. Be Mindful – “Mindfulness” is in vogue right now, but for food bloggers, it’s always been a requirement of the job. From the Chief Epicurista: “to eat like a food blogger, it’s important to pay attention to the experience and the plate in front of you so you can describe it later.” If you’re going to write about a dish, you have to savor each bite, concentrating on the texture and flavors so you can relay them to your readers. The added bonus: you’ll actually eat less, and each bite will be an adventure of its own.

4. Working Out, A Lot – This seems like a “duh” one, but even we were surprised by how frequently the bloggers we spoke to work out. Brunch Boys is a brand ambassador for NYSC, while #cityfoodie is no joke either, working out “almost every day.”

How to Stay Slim While Eating Like a Food Blogger

5. Resist the Bread – Unless you’re blogging about it, stay away from that pre-meal basketed offering; it’s only going to decrease your ability to munch on the interesting stuff. As the Zweben sisters of Unbuttoning Pants put it: “we would rather save the room in our stomachs for the real stars of the meal.”

6. Plan Accordingly – Going out for a big meal this evening? Get a light lunch. Going out for a big lunch this afternoon? Get a light breakfast. You get the idea.

7. Maximize Your FPC – This one’s a little old-school, coming as it does from veteran food author Peter Kaminsky. It stands for: Flavor Per Calorie. The idea behind it: “by amping up the taste, you can satisfy your cravings with smaller portions.”

For more articles like this, purchase the whole “Brunch Issue” of Resource Magazine!

Also Read About: 22 NYC Foodie Instagrams That Will Make Your Mouth Water – Resource