Mindless Eating

Adapted from the book by Brian Wansink

Strategy #1: Think 20 percent more or less

• Dish out 20% less than you think you might need, you probably won’t miss it
• Eat until you are 80% full
• For fruits and vegetables think 20% more.

Strategy #2:  See all that you eat

• Pre-plate your food; don’t eat directly out of a package.  Put your snack in a dish and leave the kitchen.
• See it while you are eating it.  Keep reminders of your food.  Glasses, bottles, bones, packages, ect. Will remind you how much you have eaten.

Strategy #3 Be your own tablescaper

• Mini-size bowls and boxes, repackage jumbo size food into smaller containers
• Become an illusionist-make smaller portions look bigger by serving them on smaller plates.
• Beware of the double danger of leftovers.  If you have them it means you made too much of the original meal and the more leftovers you bring out of the frig, the more you will eat.

Strategy #4 Make Overeating a Hassle, Not a Habit

• Leave serving dishes in the kitchen so you have to get up to get seconds.  It gives you time to ask yourself, ‘Am I Hungry?’
• De-convenience tempting foods.  Put them in a high cupboard that you have to stand on a chair to reach.  Reseal them, wrap them, and put them back in the frig or freezer.
• Snack only at the table and on a clean plate.  This makes it less convenient to serve at and clean up.

Strategy #5 Create Distraction Free Eating Scripts

• Rescript our diet danger zones-trying different things/different habits

• Dinners
• Snacks
• Parties
• Desk/Dashboards

• Distract yourself before you snack—eat in one room only
• Serve yourself before you start

Strategy #6 Create Expectations that make you a better cook.

• We taste what we expect to taste
• Tell them what is for dinner any two words “home-style pasta”, “Cajun chicken”
• Fix the atmosphere when you fix the food—soft lights, soft music, nice table cloth

Strategy #7 Make Comfort Foods More Comforting

• Don’t deprive yourself—one reason traditional diets fail is that they deprive us of the food and lifestyle we enjoy.  Eat comfort food in small amounts.
• Rewire your comfort foods—if they consist mostly of the four c’s-cake, cookie, candies, chips, substitute for other more healthy versions

Strategy #8: Crown yourself the official gatekeeper

• Be a good marketer-food should be neither a punishment nor a reward.  
• Offer variety-try new things
• Use the half plate rule—half of the meal needs to be veggies
• Make serving sizes official.-package servings individually and put them away.  Don’t leave them out on the counter where others will see them and snack.

Strategy #9 Portion Size me

• Beware of the Health Halo-McDonalds vs. Subway. People who eat McDonalds know it’s bad for them, but people who eat Subway think it’s healthy.  In reality, Subway serves chips, cookies, soda, and high fat condiments.  People underestimated their calorie consumption by almost 30%.
• Think small and super-share—toss out what isn’t good and what you won’t eat.