According to Dr Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (£8.99, Hay House), we make more than 200 diet decisions a day without even realising, and it’s these decisions, rather than the actual food we eat, that can cause us to pile on the pounds. Everything from the people we eat with, where we eat, even the size of our cutlery and plates can cause us to overeat without realising. Bethan Pope, 29, from Berkshire decided to put Dr Wansink’s advice into practise. Here’s how she got on:
‘I’m not unhappy with my size 12 frame, but at 5ft 3in, I’d feel healthier shifting half a stone. However, I didn’t think my eating habits were too horrendous – I always eat breakfast and have a healthy lunch.
The evenings are when my eating habits really fall by the wayside. As a journalist I attend a lot of press launches, where there’s usually plentiful wine and fattening canapés, so I’ll often skip dinner. It’s easy to drink and eat more than you would normally when you’re distracted by socialising.
After reading Mindless Eating, I realised how easy it is to lose track of exactly what, and how much, I’d eaten and drunk. So I started buying an extra salad or filled pitta at lunchtime to eat before an event. That helped stave off my hunger and meant I wasn’t cramming in the canapés when I got there. I also allowed myself one small glass of wine and refused top ups, so I could keep track of my calories. I’ve been trying this for three weeks now and I’ve lost three pounds – not a huge amount, but considering I haven’t radically changed my diet, it’s not bad!
You can apply Dr Wansink’s rules to all areas of your life – from not eating in front of the TV to avoiding the biscuits when you’re feeling low. Why not give it a try?’
- See p45 of the latest issue of Healthy (April issue), in Holland & Barrett stores now, to find out how being more aware of your eating habits can help you lose weight.
One comment
-
Great article Bethan, one of the things people sometimes don’t do when they eat or drink is think about how much they’re consuming, we tend to eat what’s there or what’s more convenient to fill that hunger pang but it’s good to plan our meals so that we can control what we eat.
I’d also recommend a food diary (which you can do for all sorts of things such as an exercise diary for example) so that you can really see what you’re eating and evaluate your diet properly.Comment by Drew Rogers, Renew Fitness Retreat on 14 July 2010 at 9:22 pm
