Weigh To Go

1. Weigh To Go September 1, 2010

2. Mindless EatingWhy We Eat More Than We ThinkBrian Wansink, PhD

3. Overeating • Why do we overeat? • Not because of hunger, but because of family/friends, packages, names, numbers, labels, lights, colors, candles, shapes, smells, distractions, and containers • Research examining people who think eating is determined by how hungry they are, how much they like the food, and their mood • Why do we overeat foods that don’t taste good? • Signals/cues around us that tell us to eat • For example, if we finish everything on our plate, that’s a cue that it’s time to stop

4. Stale Popcorn • There’s no “right” amount of popcorn to eat during a movie • Cues around us – size of the popcorn bucket – can provide a powerful suggestion on how much to eat • Participants given a free bucket of popcorn, either medium or large, & a soda • Asked to answer a few concession stand questions after the movie

5. Stale Popcorn, Cont’d • Unknown to participants, the popcorn was 5 days old • During the movie, people would take a few bites and then put the bucket down, pick it up again and have a few more bites, and so on • Buckets were weighed at the end of the movie • The large bucket group ate an average of 173 more calories (53% more) • People eat more if you give them a bigger container

6. Reengineering Strategy # 1 • Think 20% more or less • Americans usually stop eating when they’re full, those in leaner cultures stop eating when they’re no longer hungry • There is a significant calorie gap between the two • Dish out 20% less than you think you might want before you start to eat, you probably won’t miss it • For fruits and vegetables think 20% more

7. Bottomless Soup Bowl • Participants were given a free lunch of soup • What they didn’t know was, for some, the bowl of soup would constantly be refilled • Tubing was run from the bottom of the table into the bowls • After 20 min. participants were asked how many calories and how many ounces they thought they had eaten • Soup was then weighed

8. Bottomless Soup, Cont’d • Normal soup bowl participants • Ate about 9 ounces of soup • Thought they ate 123 calories worth of soup, but had eaten 155 calories • Bottomless soup bowl participants • Most were still eating when they were stopped after 20 min. • Ate about 15 ounces of soup, some ate more than a quart • Thought they ate 127 calories worth of soup, but had eaten 268 calories

9. Reengineering Strategy # 2 • See all you eat • When people pre-plate their food, the eat ~14% less than those who go back for seconds • If you’re eating chicken wings or ribs, you’ll eat less if you see what you’ve already eaten, the same is true for beverages

10. Drinking Glass Illusion • It’s estimated that 72% of what we eat comes from foods we eat from bowls, plates, and glasses • These containers can cause us to misjudge how much foods/beverages we’re consuming • Horizontal/Vertical Illusion

11. Beverage Illusion • Campers were randomly given either a tall, skinny glass or a short, wide glass with the same capacity • They were asked to estimate how much beverage they poured • Campers with tall, thin glasses poured about 5.5 ounces • Campers with the short, wide glasses poured about 9.6 ounces, 75% more, Also they estimated that they poured only 7 ounces

12. Size-Contrast Illusion • 4 ounces of mashed potatoes on a 12-inch plate will look like a lot less than if it was on an 8-inch plate • The larger plate will likely influence you to serve more • Since we tend to clean our plates, we will probably end up eating it all

13. Ice Cream Social • Participants were given either a medium size (17 ounce) bowl or a large size (34 ounce) bowl • Size of the ice creams scoops varied (2 or 3 ounces) • Told they could take as much ice cream as they wanted • The bowls were then weighed

14. Ice Cream Social, Cont’d • Those with the large bowls, dished out 31% more ice cream, about 127 more calories • Those with the large bowls and 3 ounce scoop dished out 57% more ice cream than those with the small bowl and small scoop • As the size of our dish increases, so does the amount we scoop onto them

15. Reengineering Strategy # 3 • Be your own tablescaper • Mini-size boxes, bowls, and plates to decrease what you eat by 20-30% less • Repackage large boxes into smaller bags or containers • Use slender glasses to pour less beverages

16. The “See-Food” Trap • Simply seeing or smelling a food can lead us to want to devour it • Secretaries were given dishes of 30 Hershey’s Kisses and told not to share them • Dishes were identical except half were clear and half were white so that they totally hid the chocolates

17. Hershey’s Kisses • Secretaries who had the candy in clear dishes were caught in the candy dish 71% more often (7.7 vs. 4.6 times) • Every day the clear dish was on their desk they ate 77 more calories • Over 1 year, that candy dish would have added over 5 pounds

18. Inconvenience Foods • Clear candy dishes that were rotated among 3 locations • First week – corner of the desk • Second week – top left-hand desk drawer • Third week – file cabinet 6 feet from the desk

19. Inconvenience Foods, Cont’d • Candy dish on the desk • Secretaries consumed ~9 chocolates/day • 225 extra calories • Candy dish in the desk drawer • Secretaries consumed ~6 chocolates/day • Candy dish on file cabinet • Secretaries consumed ~4 chocolates/day • Many indicated that the walk gave them enough time to second guess if they really wanted it

20. Reengineering Strategy # 4 • Make overeating a hassle, not a habit • Leave serving dishes in the kitchen or on a sideboard • De-convenience tempting foods – move these foods to an inconvenient location • Snack only at the table and on a clean plate

21. Comfort Foods • Myth #1 – Most comfort foods are indulgently unhealthy • Myth #2 – People tend to eat comfort foods when they’re sad, stressed, or bored • Myth #3 – Comfort food preferences become fixed when we are children

22. Comfort Foods, Cont’d • Men and women surveyed to rate the foods they found comforting • Women • Ice cream, chocolate, and cookies • Hassle free foods • Men • Ice cream, soup, and pizza or pasta • Foods that made them feel spoiled, pampered or taken care of

23. Comfort Foods, Cont’d • Individuals were also asked when they were most likely to seek out comfort foods • 86% when they were happy • 74% when they wanted to celebrate or reward themselves • 52% when they were bored • 39% when they were depressed • 39% when they were lonely

24. Hunger Physical Hunger Emotional Hunger Develops suddenly Above the neck (e.g., a taste for ice cream) Unrelated to time Persists despite fullness Eating leads to guilty and shame • Builds gradually • Strikes below the neck (e.g., growling stomach) • Occurs several hours after a meal • Goes away when full • Eating leads to feeling of satisfaction

25. Reengineering Strategy # 5 • Make comfort foods more comforting • The best way to begin changing behavior is to do so in a way that doesn’t make you feel deprived • Keep the comfort foods, but eat them in smaller portions or look for healthier versions • If your comfort foods consist of the 4 c’s – cookies, candies, chips and cake – all is not lost • We can rewire our comfort foods – pair healthier foods with positive events • Instead of celebrating with a chocolate ice cream sundae, try a smaller bowl of ice cream with fresh strawberries

26. McSubway Study • Individuals who ate at Subway were asked: • Estimate how many calories they ate • What specific nutrition information they remembered reading • Whether the information would influence them in the future • List exactly what they ate • Calorie consumption was compared to estimated calorie consumption • Exact same study done at McDonald’s

27. McSubway Study, Cont’d • McDonald’s • Only 57% were even remotely able to recount any nutritional information • 18% recalled that McDonald’s was offering some lower-calorie option • Only 5 of 250 ordered the lower-calorie option • Most indicated that more nutrition information would “probably not” change what they ate • Average calorie consumption was 1,093, but they only estimated 876 calories, 25% more

28. McSubway Study, Cont’d • Subway • 157 of 250 recalled some form of nutrition information • 63% correctly recalled that a number of sandwiches had under 6 grams of fat • 77% ate their sandwiches with cheese and 79% with some sort of sauce; 53% ordered and finished a bag of chips; 27% ordered cookies • Average calorie consumption was 677, but they only estimated 495, 34% more

29. Reengineering Strategy # 6 • Portion-Size Me • Beware of the health halo – the better the food, the worse the extras • People buying low-fat granola ate 21% more calories • Supersizing may seem like a bargain, but it will most likely lead to overeating