May 19, 2022 general

Guest blog courtesy of Andrew Shepherd, DC of Parker Wellness Center

Everything that works does not have to be hard. Simple tricks can add up to progress. We learned that years ago when I interviewed Brian Wansink, author of the fascinating book, Mindless Eating, Why We Eat More Than We Think. Dr. Shepherd provided the nifty ideas below except for [text formatted like this] which is just my ad libs.

• Hang a Mirror in Your Dining Room – Research has shown that people who eat in front of a mirror are less likely to enjoy junk food, and also eat less of it. However, people who sat in front of a mirror to eat healthy food felt better about themselves and also enjoyed their vegetables. Researchers believe that your reflection holds you accountable for your food choices. [Oops. Our 1970’s era dining room had a whole wall of mirrors which we ripped out when we remodeled. Oh well, I guess our eating in there just twice a year wasn’t going to make much of a weight loss difference anyway.]
• Clean Your Kitchen – Spending as little as 10 minutes cleaning and uncluttering your kitchen can make you more likely to reach for a healthy snack. According to a study in Environment and Behavior, volunteers who spent time in a disorganized kitchen were more likely to reach for snacks like cookies and ate about more 100 calories, all of which were junk food. [Makes sense since most of us find clutter stressful. I guess a kitchen cluttered with junk food would be really bad.]
• Pay Cash for Junk Food – Scientists have found that having to look for dollars to buy candy bars or bags of chips can give you a moment to reconsider your purchase, as parting from your cash can stop your impulsive cravings, according to a study of shopping behaviors. [and, if it is a vending machine, half the time it will just keep your money and not give you junk food.] Also, choose a smaller cart at the grocery store and try using smaller plates and bowls at home to cut down serving sizes. [The smaller plates trick definitely helps. Not only does it look like more food, but also a trip back to the kitchen for seconds gives us time to reconsider the wisdom of that.]
• Dim the Lights – Soft lighting can melt stress away, improve your mood and even spice up boring conversations. But it can also make you eat less, according to research published in Psychological Reports. In the study, participants who ate their dinner under dim lighting were found to have enjoyed their meals more, took longer to eat, and consumed 18 percent fewer calories than people who sat under bright lights. [What if you ate in the dark? Can’t even find the food? That saves ALL the calories.]
• Beware of Action Movies – It’s no secret that eating in front of the TV can make you hungry. However, did you know that certain movies trigger these symptoms? Try saving your snack for comedies or talk shows and stash the chips away when you watch action movies or tear-jerkers, suggests the findings of a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. People were found to eat twice as much junk food while watching The Island than they did while watching the talk show Charlie Rose. At the movies, viewers of sad movies ate 28 to 55 percent more buttered popcorn than people who watched comedies. [So, I guess NO snacking while watching the news!]
• Use the Power of Peppermint – Cravings and emotional eating can be suppressed just by the smell of peppermint, according to research published in the journal Appetite. In the study, people who smelled peppermint every two hours reported they felt less hungry, more focused, and consumed 2,800 fewer calories per week than non-smellers. [“non-smellers”?…that is funny] In a similar study that took place in the UK, the same effect occurred when people wore a vanilla-scented patch. They lost five pounds in a month and felt more in control of their diets. [Stick a tic tac up your nose? KIDDING! Save money on cologne, just a dab of vanilla extract behind each ear and on the wrists?]
• Use a Long Fork – Long elegant forks or spoons can help you slow down and enjoy your meal. (The same goes for long chopsticks versus short chopsticks.) A Taiwanese study published in Psychological Reports found that short utensils made participants feel the need to eat more food. However, people who were using longer cutlery stated they enjoyed their food more and took more time between bites. [I’m looking for a long fork, maybe like folks use to toast marshmallows? I would be more than skinny with even short chopsticks…I’d starve to death because I am so bad with them. No wonder Asians are slim.]
• Don’t Color Coordinate – Eating too much of the same color can be counterproductive. For instance, eating white pasta in white cream on a white plate can cause you to overeat. A study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that volunteers noted better control over their portion sizes when the food contrasted with the color of the plate. The solution? As published in the International Journal of Obesity, a study found that eating off a plate with a blue rim led diners to perceive their servings to be larger. [Our plates are white. Not buying new ones, so, does that mean if we serve white food we’d better cover it in catsup?]