We all know eating healthy is important. But it’s so difficult. Research suggests one of the biggest keys to healthy eating lies in our psychology.
So I did some research to find 3 awesome insights based on food psychology that will help you eat better at home, work, and in restaurants.
1. Home – What Would A Superhero Do?
Want you or your kids to pick apples over french fries more often?
Before you grab your next meal or serve your children, ask yourself or your children, what would a superhero (or some one admirable) eat?
According to Brian Wansink’s research, the power of thinking like a superhero can lead to more apples and less french fries. Brian is a food psychology researcher at Cornell University who the White House selected to revise US dietary guidelines.
Brian’s research showed that they could get kids to choose the healthier food much more often if they simply asked what their favorite superhero or their favorite princess would do. Even if they responded “french fries”, half the time they took the apple slices. It simply causes an interruption in their thinking that causes them to pause, hit the reset button inside their head and think again.
2. Work – Keep Your Distance and Put a Lid on It
Want to snack less at work?
Brian’s research showed that people ate half as much from a candy dish when it was moved 6 feet away.
Want to snack even less at work?
From an experiment that Google did recently. The M&Ms in their New York office used to be in baskets. So instead they put them in bowls with lids. The lid doesn’t require a lot of effort to lift but it reduced the number of M&Ms consumed in their New York office by 3 million a month.
3. Eating Out – Pick the Normal Table, Window Seat, & Away from the Bar
Brian’s research found that people who sat in booths were about 80% more likely to order dessert than people sitting in a normal table and you’re about 80% less likely to order salad.
People sitting near windows were much more likely to order salads.
If you are seated at a table close to the bar, on average, your table’s going to be ordering three more beers than the table that’s farther from the bar.
Quick Review
To eat better at home, ask yourself what a superhero would eat?
To snack less at work, keep the snack dish further away and put a lid on it.
To eat better in a restaurant, choose a normal table (not booth), preferably a window seat that’s far away from the bar.
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