So, I didn't do very well on eliminating sugary beverages from my diet this past week. I lasted two days, better than nothing, but not the week I had planned on. Sugary drinks are my krytonite. I've decided to move on from this goal for a few weeks and focus on not eating while distracted. Oh, such a hard feat. We have magazines, tablets, newspapers, TV, Spotify, and children (some of us) to distract us while we eat. I can attest to the sheer joy I feel when I combine TV and food, any food.
Have your ever sat down in front of the TV with a whole bag of chips? You've got your snack, and you're ready to enjoy your TV show or movie. Fast forward to the credits rolling. You've eaten the whole bag! How is that possible? Did you even enjoy them? Did you truly taste them after the first few bites? Research by Dr. Brian Wansink tells us that you went on autopilot. His first book Mindless Eating addresses this very scenario. He gathered a movie theater full of people, gave them a medium or large popcorn (Both serving sizes were purposefully so large, it was nearly impossible for any of them to finish.), and told them to enjoy the movie. When he and his research assistants measured the amount of popcorn left after the movie, they found that the large-popcorn-serving eaters ate more than their medium-sized serving counterparts. Bigger container = bigger portion eaten. Added to that, the unsuspecting people in the study had just had lunch. And finally THE POPCORN WAS 5 DAYS OLD! They weren't even hungry. The popcorn tasted like packing peanuts, and they still ate it. Crazy, right? What makes us do this? Dr. Wansink put it simply; it's all the cues surrounding the food. The huge bucket, being distracted by entertainment, and the fact that everyone else was doing it are just some of the reasons that these people ate enormous servings of this stuff even when they weren't hungry. So I urge you to consider...are you even hungry for that?
If you're as guilty of mindless eating as I am, join me this week in eating in a calm and non distracting environment. It's tough, and you may find that you don't enjoy eating quite as much.
Check out the brilliant Brian Wansink at mindlesseating.org. I can't say enough wonderful things about his research.
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