6 Surprising Weight Loss Tips

Researchers at Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab have been very busy exploring ways that food choices can be influenced by how we perceive them. They have watched hundreds of people in every day settings and have developed a set of tips that should help all of us develop easy ways to avoid overeating.

1) Some things look smaller than they really are. Consider short and tall glasses for instance. Chances are you will feel like you are drinking less when drinking from a short glass than you will when drinking from a tall narrow one. The tall one always seems to be bigger, even when the two glasses hold the exact same amount. Research has shown, even with experienced bartenders, that this size illusion causes us to pour an average of 34% more into short glasses. So, don't be fooled by short glasses. Better yet, let yourself be fooled by the tall skinny ones.

2) The closer and easier it is to reach those candies, the more candy we are going to eat. It sounds like oversimplification until you consider that the research found that people ate over twice as many chocolates when they were within arms reach rather than only 6 feet away. Conclusion? Keep those high calorie treats where you can't just reach out and get one. Another problem that this proximity effect will trigger is a zone we enter that you might call 'eating sessions.' When any foods are sitting out within easy reach, we tend to graze and eat more spontaneously and, unfortunately, more often and in greater amounts.

3) There is a reason food ads look so good- you eat more of their food when they do! How many times have you seen an ad on TV and suddenly started craving the food that was being pitched, or how about that 'Double-Chocolate Black Forest Cake' on the menu? The researchers found that people bought 27% more chocolate cake when the menu simply gave it a fanciful name. Remember then that advertising is, after all, only an illusion.

4) If you keep a stockpile of food around in view, you will end up eating it more often. The researchers call this the 'wholesale club store curse.' In their study of 219 adults, they found that stockpiled products are more frequently used when they are visible and in bulk. So, if you want to buy in bulk, at least keep it where you won't see it all the time.

5) Package size will influence how much you pour out of the package. If you buy the giant bag of chips, the researchers showed in a study of 691 adults and 48 product categories that large package size increases consumption an average of 22%. In another study involving different sized popcorn containers at the movies, it was found that people ate 45% more popcorn from the giant containers than the medium ones, even (we have to laugh at ourselves about this one) when the giant containers were filled with 10 day old popcorn.

6) If you want to change the way you eat, do it incrementally. This is particularly true if you are cooking for someone else who needs to make a change in diet. If you want to rebalance the percentage of fruits and vegetables on the dinner table, try making the shift over a few weeks. If you are the nutritional gatekeeper for your family, recognize your cooking style and understand that any modifications you make will probably have a huge impact on the people that eat at your table.

Everyone knows that it is always easier 'to say' what should be done than it is 'to do.' We know that the answer to weight loss is, simply stated, to eat no more food than our bodies require. We know that if we consume more calories than we burn, the excess will be stored as fat- in our bellies, bottoms, tops, thighs. We know that if we are overweight, it is very likely we will end up paying an unwelcome health toll. We also know from experience that this weight loss thing is hard to do! So, give yourself a break. You can lose weight over time if you make regular, incremental changes in your life. You don't have to make yourself miserable. Maybe you can start by acting on these six tips

Remember, too, that this article is for information purposes only. If you have or think you have a health issue, including weight or diet issues, consult your primary care physician for proper diagnoses and treatment.

Personal Fit Weight Loss Guide
dx.doi.org/10.2121/Weight-Loss-Guide-020808
2006 Healthiness, Inc.
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