Mindless EatingBrian Wansink, PhD
In one of Brian Wansink's clever studies on food psychology, he and his team of researchers gave out free bags of granola to viewers at a movie theater. The granola was labeled either "low-fat" or "regular," but in reality, all the granola was low-fat. After the movie, those who were given granola labeled "low-fat" had eaten 49% more than those who had "regular" bags. Wansink attributes these results to what he calls the "Health Halo," the general assumption that a food is healthy which leads people to pay less attention to how much they are eating.
In his book Mindless Eating, Wansink, a food psychologist at Cornell University, speaks to the many hidden persuaders in the environment that affect how much we eat: size of glasses/dishes, how many people we are eating with, how conveniently our food is located, how desirable we perceive our food to be, how distracted we are, and many others. By understanding how these variables might cause us to overeat, we can manipulate them in our favor, and perhaps, mindlessly eat a bit less.
"If we eat way too little, we know it. If we eat way too much, we know it. But there is a calorie range - a mindless margin - where we feel fine and are unaware of small differences. That is, the difference between 1,900 calories and 2,000 calories is not one we can detect, nor can we detect the difference between 2,000 and 2,100 calories. But over the course of the year, this mindless margin would either cause us to lose ten pounds or gain ten pounds. It takes 3,500 extra calories to equal one pound. It doesn't matter if we eat these extra 3,500 calories in one week or gradually over the entire year. They'll add up to one pound."
As the excerpt above implies, this is not a diet book, per se. Wansink won't tell you exactly what to eat, but he will teach you how to restructure your environment so that you stay in the "mindless margin" and eat less (or more) of the foods that are already on your menu. This will enable you to gradually lose (or gain) weight without experiencing deprivation. Plus, for anyone who eats, it's a fascinating, albeit scary look, at how we make decisions regarding what goes into our mouths.
6 comments:
This book is on my shelf and after reading your post today I picked it up again. Not only did I find eight bucks tucked inside as a reminder of other mindless behavior but I realized that this is a book worth going back to with lots of good helpful stuff and it entertains.
Personally I have the hardest time not with mindless eating, although I do my share of that, but with what I call ritualistic eating. I wouldn't think of going to a movie and not buying a large popcorn and eating pretty much all of it myself. The popcorn is crucial to the whole experience of movie-watching in a darkened theater. Hunger has nothing to do with it. Maybe that puts it in the category of mindless eating? Maybe the book will answer that.
I also just took another look at the cover which is a pitchfork and a shovel in place of silverware. How appropriate.
Very funny about the popcorn...one of the first studies he mentions in the book is asking the question, "Do we eat more if we are given a bigger container?" He gives free popcorn tubs - some big, some smaller - to movie goers. The findings are, of course, that people eat more food regardless of how hungry they feel, if they are eating from a larger container. The absolute best part - all of the popcorn was STALE. You gotta read the book...
yeah, the whole ritualistic eating thing is interesting. i know this isn't the same as mindless eating, but i think i'm not the only one who will eat even when i *can* feel that i'm eating too much, because the environment has some kind of eating cue or because i have this subconscious idea that if i don't eat until i'm totally stuffed, that i'm not giving myself enough food.
i think there also might be some element of weird masculinity-displaying thing going on too. i've talked to other men about my age who used to metabolize like crazy and took pride in how much we used to eat, and now are realizing that it just doesn't work or feel good anymore.
Well today I did some "mindful" eating. I bought a cookie at the Night Kitchen and ate the whole thing and felt satisfied. And I think the reason is I savored every buttery, iced morsel. It was exactly what I wanted and it did not disappoint. Nothing mindless about it.
I paid the $2.00 for it and relished everything about the experience. I guess now if I could eat veggies mindlessly I could balance the scale. I'm reading the book to find out how to do this. I'll keep y'all posted.
I agree that it just doesn't feel good to eat as much as we used to. Even as a woman I can identify because I used to take pride (in my 20's and 30's a long long time ago) at how much I could eat and how I loved to eat and how that was not necessarily feminine but I didn't give a hoot. I loved food too much and it never showed. But now it's more than the slower metabolism that reigns me in. Feeling gross is gross.
Actually, Abram, the idea you mentioned about men eating more to display their masculinity is also covered. I can't recall all the specifics but Wansink talks about how each of us has "eating scripts," or automatic patterns we follow when eating in certain circumstances. Very relevant to your comment, he uses the example of a man and a woman on a first date to elaborate on eating scripts. Often times (and they studied this), women on a first date will eat less than usual in an effort to show that they are lady-like and perhaps dainty, while men will eat more than usual in an effort to show their virility and masculinity. Thanks for bringing that up...it's a really interesting point.
I like this discussion. I know I am often a 'mindless eater' not because I want to be but in many ways I was trained. I can recall sitting at the dinner table and hearing one of my parents ask "are you full yet?" Not to mention having 5 other siblings so sometimes I ate and ate for fear that the food would get snatched up and away.
I currently try to eat slower and (like momster said) savor what I am eating so it becomes mindful.
Back in the day I did glory at how much I could eat and still fit into my cub scout uniform, but those days are gone (poor eating and scout uniforms included).
Bye.
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