Throughout Chapters 1-4 of Mindless Eating, Dr. Wansink talks about a variety of topics, such as container size, food variety, and the Mindless Margin, the gray area between hungry and full. He shows that these concepts greatly influence the amount of food we eat and make a big difference on weight over the long-term. Dr. Wansink also shows that many of our eating habits are based on environmental cues that push us to overeat.
So what can we do about it? In order to break the overeating and weight-gaining cycle, we must change our perception of why we eat. Take dieting for example. Too often we diet by eliminating unhealthy food groups - sugar, saturated fats, complex carbs - and try to maintain this unbalanced cycle. It works for a while but in a time of weakness, we rebound by splurging on the food we were avoiding. Instead, Dr. Wansink says dieting should focus on making small changes. To make dieting more manageable and sustainable over the long-term, change your perception of eating by focusing on the 'mini-decisions' made throughout the day in terms of food choice. For example, Dr. Wansink includes these interesting tidbits of information in Chapter 1:
One less 270 calorie candy bar each day = 27 fewer pounds a year
One less 140 calorie soft drink each day = 14 fewer pounds a year
One less 420 calorie bagel each day = 42 fewer pounds a year
This information would suggest that eliminating one unhealthy food choice from your diet can make a big impact over the course of a year. What are your thoughts on this?
To be thin, eat like the French.
Dr. Wansink also talks about about cultural differences and overeating. He briefly describes a study that compares Parisians to Chicagoans and how they decide to stop eating during a meal. Both filled out written questionnaires and results indicated Parisians stopped eating for different reasons than Chicagoans. Parisians stopped eating when they no longer felt hungry while the Chicagoans stopped eating when their plate was empty or when they ran out of their beverage. I think this study really shows how learned behavior can influence your food decisions.
Don't worry if you haven't started reading the book yet. You still have time to catch up. Next week we're reviewing Chapters 5-6. Happy Reading!
PS...Do you think you're a Mindless Eater? CLICK HERE to check yourself on Dr. Wansink's Mindless Eating Meter.