BodiMojo Blog

Here’s some food for thought, or thought for food.  Human beings are not designed to keep track of how much they eat.  Or so says Brian Wansink, PhD, author of Mindless Eating.  He writes, “Our stomachs are bad at math, and what’s more, we get no help from our attention or our memory.”

This might be helpful information when considering upcoming holiday feasts. His research shows that when food is devoured and plates removed, there is no evidence of what one has eaten.  Consider second helpings — wolf down those mashed potatoes and the next thing you are reaching for more, plus the gravy. Or consider what happens at a restaurant.  Dig in to the chips or bread basket and the next thing you know, a new basket appears. But my favorite example:  the quaint dish of Hershey’s kisses on the coffee table.  “Oh, I’ll just have one or two.”   A few handfuls later, the calories just mindlessly load up. 

People notoriously underestimate the calories they eat.

According to Wansink, however, there is a trick.  Since people can’t easily calculate calories, they can “eyeball” portion size.  Wansink notes, “We eat the volume we want, not the calories we want.” A simple solution is to “see” the food before you eat it.  Put everything you want to eat from the Thanksgiving tabletop on your plate, including the pumpkin pie for dessert.  Chances are you’ll portion out what you actually envision yourself capable of eating.  It’s less likely you’ll reach for seconds and you won’t feel like a beached whale for the rest of the day. 

Plus, you don’t have to give up your favorite dishes.  You can actually enjoy a bit of everything.

Other tricks for the mind’s eye:

• Use smaller or mid-size dinner plates (or today’s salad plates).  Like stadium seating, dinner plates have increased in size over the years, so the notion of “clean your plate” can have serious consequences over time – like thicker waist and hypertension.
• Keep the food serving bowls off the table. Out of sight, out of mind, says Wansink.
• That goes for the dessert, too.  If they are left out on the counter, chances are you can’t resist the temptation when you walk by.  It’s just human nature.  In fact, just knowing where the sweets are can nag at you all day. Send the leftovers home with friends, or stick them in the freezer.  Change the environment and you minimize the food temptation and extra calories.

So thinking ahead… there will certainly be plenty of opportunities to test this out of the next few months.  Bon appetite!

Contributed by Tara Cousineau, PhD

An Adolescent at Heart