When I began reading the book Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink, Ph.D., I was immediately fascinated by the facts he presented. He's done literally hundreds of live studies to find out why and how we all make our daily food choices. He first tells us, "Everyone - every single one of us - eats how much we eat largely because of what's around us. We overeat not because of hunger but because of family and friends, packages and plates, names and numbers, labels and lights, colors and candles, shapes and smells, distractions and distances, cupboards and containers. This list is almost as endless as it is invisible...Most of us are blissfully unaware of what influences how much we eat."
Now, after reading this eye opening volume, I am lots more aware of my eating choices because he not only points out all the ways we make food choices even when not hungry, he gives realistic suggestions for changing mindless eating to a "Mindless Margin."
The key points in his Mindful Eating Plan are these:
* Your Mindless margin - By making 100-200 calorie changes in your daily intake, you won't feel deprived and backslide ( a Jody Victor strategy).
* Mindless Better Eating - Focus on reengineering small behaviors that will move you from mindless overeating to mindless better eating. Five common places to look (diet danger zones) include meals, snacks, parties, restaurants, and your desk or dashboard.
* Mindful Reengineering - To trim your mindless margin, you can use basic diet tips, but a more personalized approach is to use 1) food trade-offs, or 2) food policies. Both give you a chance to eat some of what you want without making it a belabored decision.
* The Power of Three - Design three easy, do-able changes that you can mindlessly make without much sacrifice ( a Jody Victor strategy).
* Mindless Margin Checklist - Use this daily checklist to help you move from mindless overeating to mindless better eating.
We are now in what is called "the Holidays" and mindless eating could add pounds to your waistline. To help keep us all slim and trim I will go into more detail about Dr. Wansink's suggestions during this wonderful time of year.
All the Best!