Table of Contents
1. The right containers
Store healthy foods like fruits and vegetables in clear containers or plastic wrap. Sweet and fatty foods, on the other hand, belong in light-tight cans. Why? “We eat what we see first,” explains food psychologist Prof. Brian Wansink from Cornell University in the USA.
2. Put away and replace food
Do you always have breakfast cereal and muesli to hand? Away with it! In Wansink’s studies, women who had cereals visible in the kitchen weighed up to ten kilos more on average. Instead, place a fruit bowl e.g. B. on the kitchen table. As a result, volunteers weighed almost seven kilos less within a year.
3. keep order
Yes, cleaning up is annoying. But: Where there are no piles of papers, no clothes lying on furniture and no knick-knacks lying around, you reach for unhealthy snacks much less often . Clutter increases the risk of snacking by up to 44 percent.
4. Away with smartphones and co.
Running a step-by-step video on your smartphone or tablet while cooking is cool and practical. But don’t leave such devices behind. Even a TV has no place in the kitchen. If the boob tube is running at mealtimes, you eat up to 30 percent more . “If you remove all of these appliances from the kitchen, you spend 18 minutes less there every day,” explains Wansink. 18 minutes less for chips, flips and chocolate.
5. Bring healthy food forward
Treats that you see first in the fridge or pantry, for example, are eaten three times more often than ingredients that you only see later. Use that! Put the healthy things in the first row and the fattening ones in the back. You also eat less food that requires you to bend, stretch, or climb onto a step stool. Humans are lazy…
6. Size matters!
Pay attention to the size of your plate. For example, 60 grams of pasta looks pretty puny on a plate with a diameter of 30 cm. Consequence : You take more. If the plate is only 20 cm , that won’t happen. Use smaller bowls too. Volunteers in Wansink’s laboratory took 17 percent more from a three-liter bowl than from a two-liter bowl.
7. Colors save calories
Contrasts save calories. For example, if white chocolate is in a red bowl, we take 18 percent less of it. You should therefore not fill noodles, pasta or mashed potatoes on a white plate.
8. Pay attention to the shape of the dishes
Always drink sugary or alcoholic beverages from tall, narrow glasses . Then you automatically consume twelve percent less. Also, always place the glass on the table or countertop when filling. Don’t hold it. If you look down at the glass, it looks fuller.
9. Shop what you really need
Yes, XXL packs are practical and cheap(er), but: In the long run, they simply make you fat. In the first week after purchase, volunteers in studies often ate them half empty. What helps? It’s very simple: simply pour the huge portions into smaller, and by the way much prettier, containers or glasses (see tip number one)!
10. Portion correctly
You’ve tried a new recipe – and you want all your guests to see how delicious it looks. Enjoy the wow moment when you put it on the table, but take the platter(s) back to the kitchen or park them on an extra table after everyone has filled up. Because: As a result, everyone in the group eats 20 percent less.
