Taking pleasure in a meal isn’t merely a matter of how it tastes. Other elements come into play: your food’s aroma, its colors and shapes, whether it’s chewy or crunchy—even how it sounds! If that burger’s sizzling when it arrives on your plate, your mouth will start to water (not so much if it sounds like a dropped hockey puck). Immerse yourself in a meal via all of your senses—not just your taste buds—and you’re likely to leave the table feeling more satisfied even if you eat less than you would have had you gulped your meal without paying attention, says Lilian Cheung, director of Health Promotion & Communication at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Department of Nutrition and author of Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life. That’s because you’re probably eating at a leisurely pace, giving your body time to signal to your brain that you’ve had enough. It can take 20 minutes or more for the “I’m full” message to register; wolf down your food and you can easily eat past the point of satiety because your head hasn’t caught up with your stomach.