"Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think"

by Brian Wansink, Ph.D.

I picked this up at some airport bookstore and finished it last week. Excellent book!

The author is a professor of Marketing and Nutritional Science at Cornell University and does research on food and consumer behavior. He describes much of the research they've done on people's behaviors and eating and gives a "Reengineering Strategy" for each chapter. These include:

1. Think 20%--more or less. Dish up 20% less food than you think you want; increase fruits/veggies by 20%.

2. See all you eat. See it before you eat it; see it while you are eating it. (Put everything on a plate before you eat it--don't eat chips out of the bag, ice cream out of the carton, etc.)

3. Be your own tablescaper. Use smaller bowls and plates; dump the supersize--you'll pour more from a supersized container than a small one.

4. Make overeating a hassle, not a habit. Leave serving dishes in the kitchen; "de-convenience" tempting foods (put in hard to reach places; candy in covered dish away from the desk); snack only at the table and on a clean plate.

5. Create distraction-free eating scripts. Rescript your diet danger zones (dinner, snacks, parties, restaurants, desks/dashboards); distract yourself before you snack; serve yourself before you start.

6. Create expectations that make you a better cook. (Use of brand v. non; names of dishes descriptive).

7. Make comfort food more comforting. Don't deprive yourself, but also rewire your comfort foods. Instead of a huge dessert, try a small scoop of ice cream and fruit.

8. Crown yourself as the official gatekeeper. Offer variety; use the half-plate rule (protein/starch is half, veggies other half); make serving sizes official (snacks in baggies).

9. Portion-size me. Beware of the health halo (better the food, the worse the extras--they found people overate a lot at Subway when they thought they were eating "good" as opposed to McDonalds where you know you aren't eating healthy when you have Big Mac and fries. Think small or super-share.

Mindful Eating Plan:

Make 100-200 calorie changes in daily intake. Easy to do and you won't feel deprived.
Mindless better eating. Reengineer small behaviors.
Make up your own food policies or food trade-offs. Needs to be specific to you.
The power of 3: design 3 easy, doable changes that you can make without much sacrifice.
Use a checklist to see how you are doing each day.

I highly recommend the book and could see some of the behaviors in myself or in people at work (with the snacking and candy).

Comments

[clm]

It's well worth reading. There are a few eye-opening things and a couple of "ah-ha!" moments.

[garyd]

I've been wanting to read this book. There used to be a course taught (more of a clinic) here at the U of Kentucky that was about mindful eating. I have a major emotional attachment to drinking soda. Mt. Dew just makes me happy!