If external cues can lead you into bad eating habits, you can use the same cueing process to eat better, and less mindlessly. Stop relying on your all-too-exhaustible supply of will power or your intelligence and education, which has been demonstrated not to work. Think about financial planning. Companies with 401K plans used to make people sign up to contribute to the plans, and participation was low. But when they automatically enrolled people, with an option to opt out if they wanted to, participation went way up. Set your default to healthy rather than unhealthy.
Here’s how:
Use smaller bowls, plates, glasses, etc. Put the big ones away so you can’t get to them easily.
Leave salad and vegetables dishes on the dinner table, where they are easy to reach, but put the entree on the counter, where it is harder to get to.
Buy foods in smaller containers, or if you buy in bulk, repackage them into serving sizes.
Leave fruit out on the counter in bright serving bowls so it is attractive and people can take it easily.
Put carrots, celery, and other vegetables in water in clear containers in the front of refrigerator to attract the eye.
Put the ice cream, cheese, and other high fat foods in the back, out of site and out of mind.
Put leftovers in plastic containers to encourage or discourage their use: clear containers in the front for veggies & salads, opaque containers in the back for entrees.
If you must eat fast food, change your default order from burger & fries to grilled chicken & side salad. You may also have to change your default place to make this work.
Think about your own life and how you can use your intelligence and awareness to change your daily cues from overeating to healthy eating patterns.
You do deserve a break today – a break from self-destructive eating. Good luck!
Please post your own suggestions or examples of how you have used re-cueing to eat better.
All the research was done by Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell and the author of Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think. You can learn even more at his website mindlesseating.org
A health halo effect is when a good thing’s goodness is overestimated. I used to work at a hospital, and I was convinced that nurses believed they were either immune to lifestyle diseases because they were nurses, or that the doctors they saw every day would just fix them if they did get one.
Places Have Halos
A study was done at a mall which had both a Subway and a McDonalds. The Subway eaters ate there because it was perceived as a healthy choice, but they underestimated their meal’s calorie intake by 27%. They didn’t count the extra meat or cheese or mayo they requested, and they thought that even the chips were healthier. McDonalds eaters also underestimated their calories, but only by 19%.
Another study gave people the same Italian sandwich, along with a menu from a fictitious restaurant, either Jim’s Hearty Sandwich Shop or Good Karma Healthy Foods. Good Karma sandwiches were estimated to be 24% lower in calories than those from Jims. And, those with the Good Karma sandwiches were more likely to order chips, sugary drinks and cookies as well.
Labels Have Halos
One study showed that people estimated that food labeled “organic” was 15-20% lower in calories than food with no label.
News Flash: Being organic has no effect on calorie levels.
Another study showed that foods labeled “low fat” have a halo. People were offered trail mix and M&Ms, both labeled either “low fat” or “regular”. Those who chose the “low fat” versions ate 21-46% more calories than those eating the “regular” versions, even if they rated the food as tasting worse. Why? One reason is that they believe low fat foods are 40% lower in calories, when they are actually only about 11% lower. Another is that people think they can reward themselves for being virtuous – which of course wipes out the virtue.
Exercise Halo
Exercise can bring about the same “rewarding” behavior. In one study, different groups were led on the exact same walk at the exact same pace by leaders who described the walks as either “exercise” or “scenic” walks. Those on the “exercise” walks ate more calories than those on the “scenic” walks, with most of the increase coming from dessert. The”exercisers” figured that they’d burned more calories so they could reward themselves.
Beware the halo. Remember that a virtuous decision is its own reward.
All the research was done by Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell and the author of Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think. You can learn even more at his website mindlesseating.org.
Many educated, informed, intelligent people believe that once they know about these external cues to overeat, they would never again be fooled by them.
WRONG!
Overconfidence
In a study of grad students, they were lectured for 90 minutes, including videotapes and illustrations, about these same external cues to overeat and how to combat them. They were told that they would eat more Chex Mix if it were served in larger bowls than they would if it were served in smaller bowls. The students went home for the holidays, and upon their return, were invited to a Super Bowl party. There were 2 identical rooms at the party, except one room had larger bowls of Chex Mix than the other. In fact, they were the same orange bowls that the students had seen in the videotapes. Sure enough, those eating from the larger bowls took 53% more food, and when asked if they thought they’d taken more from the larger bowls, they said no. And then they gave an excuse, like not eating breakfast that day.
Even professional bartenders were fooled. They were shown that they consistently poured 20% more liquid into 10 oz short wide tumblers than they did into 10 oz tall thin glasses. Within 1 minute of being shown this, they did it again!
So, if education and awareness cannot stop us from overeating, maybe we should just eat mindfully. And this can work for some people. But for the typical family, dealing with the daily chaos of kids, house issues, work problems, hectic schedules, interruptions, etc. this does not seem workable.
All the research was done by Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell and the author of Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think. You can learn even more at his website mindlesseating.org.
Researchers were able to make people eat more by pairing them with fast eaters and less when paired with slow eaters.
A study found that when following a woman at a free buffet lunch line, another woman generally took about the same amount of food as the first woman. When following a man, there was no effect. When the leading woman appeared to be obese, the woman following often took more food than the obese person. Researchers speculated that people seemed to think that they could afford to take more since they were much smaller than the obese person. Guys were not affected by anyone else, they always filled their plates.
On a personal note, as a fitness trainer, I’m always curious about people’s reactions to my profession when I attend meal functions with people I don’t know. They often groan when they find out what I do, or try to explain their food choices. I always tell them that I’m not there to pass judgment on anyone. It seems to work, because they usually finish their plates and get dessert, regardless of what I do.
All the research was done by Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell and the author of Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think. You can learn even more at his website mindlesseating.org.
When researchers served the same tasty brownies on either a napkin, a paper plate or fine china, the people rated them respectively as either really good, really really good, or the greatest brownie ever eaten, worth triple the price.
Note: put out the good china when you host dinner parties.
It works in your favor as well. Serve the same amount of food on a big plate and a small plate. I’ll bet you feel more full after eating the small plate than the big one, because it looks bigger on the small plate. Well, don’t eat the actual plates, just the food on them.
All the research was done by Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell and the author of Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think. You can learn even more at his website mindlesseating.org.
Secretaries were given candy ostensibly as an award for performance. Hershey’s Kisses were put into either a clear bowl or an opaque one, and the bowls were placed either right on their desks or about 6 feet away from them. The bowls were refilled daily. When the bowls were on their desks, the secretaries averaged 9 Kisses a day; when the bowls were 6 feet away, they averaged 4 per day. The secretaries reported that the extra effort it took to go 6 feet gave them time to think about how hungry they were, and decide not to eat. Also, those with the clear bowls ate 2 more Kisses per day than those with the opaque bowls.
In homes, studies were done with serving dishes left on the dinner table or not. When the serving dishes were left on the table, men ate 29% more than when the dishes were left on the counter. The main reason for this is that men eat fast, and then they watch the rest of the family eat, so they are prone to taking seconds and thirds while they wait. Women tend to eat slower, but they still averaged 10% more food eaten when it was left on the table.
So, leave the salad and vegetables on the table at dinner and put the meat back on the counter. Maybe the kids will eat more veggies.
All the research was done by Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell and the author of Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think. You can learn even more at his website mindlesseating.org.
Do you realize that the names and descriptions on menus can change your perceptions about the food and the restaurant considerably?
Name Change
At a healthy cafeteria, the names were changed on menu items to be more appealing. For example, the “Italian Pasta” was changed to “Succulent Tuscany Pasta.” The recipes and ingredients were not changed, only the names. Afterwards, sales jumped 27%, the restaurant was rated better and the chef more competent.
If you expect something, you tend to find it, either good or bad.
At a prix fixe dinner, the same wine was served to everyone, but the labels on the bottles were changed to read either California or North Dakota. Those who got the “California” wine rated the wine and the food better than the “North Dakota” wine people, they stayed 10 minutes longer, and many made future reservations.
By the way, both groups drank all the wine. Why not, it was free!
All the research was done by Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell and the author of Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think. You can learn even more at his website mindlesseating.org.
Like most people, you probably think that you know when you’re full and that you’ll stop eating when you are. But as you’ll see, we tend to rely on external, not internal, cues for how full we feel or how much we eat.
Large Portion Sizes
In one study, people going into a movie who had just eaten a full meal 20 minutes earlier were given either medium or large sized bags of popcorn; some of the popcorn was fresh and some was 5 days old.
Those who got the large sized bags ate 34% more of the stale popcorn and 45% more of the fresh, than those with the medium sized bags. When asked afterwards if the size of the bag had anything to do with how much they ate, they all said, “No, how could it?”
Never-Ending Portions
In another study, people were given either regular bowls of soup or bowls that secretly re-filled themselves. Afterwards. the refillable bowl eaters did not rate themselves as feeling any more full than the regular bowl eaters, even though they ate 73% more soup. When asked, they said, “How can I be full when I have half a bowl left?”
Evidence
Another study looked at visual evidence of eating. People at an all-the-wings-you-can eat restaurant were randomly assigned to tables that either were or were not regularly cleared of bones. Those who saw their bones pile up ate less; at the tables where the bones were cleared off, people ate 28% more.
Then, everyone was offered a 450 calorie cookie on the way out of the restaurant. 15% of those who saw the bones pile up took the cookie. 85% of those from the cleared tables took the cookie, and 66% of them started eating the cookie before they even got to their car. So they ate more wings plus the cookie!
Note: Remember this study when you eat ribs the next time, Memphis! Have your server leave the bones piled up in front of you.
All the research was done by Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell and the author of Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think. You can learn even more at his website mindlesseating.org.
Healthy Habits offers 1 to 1 personal training, partner and group fitness programs, BioMetrics nutrition and exercise plans, golf fitness and weight loss programs, post-rehab clinical exercise, and beginner and intermediate yoga classes in Memphis, TN.
