Professor Brian Wansink, at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, found that the closer food was to a person, the more likely they were to eat it. Basically we are creatures of laziness, if it’s there, we eat it. If it’s convenient, we eat the food.  Dr. Wansink said “When it comes down to it, we’re efficient people, We want something that’s convenient. And if it’s fruit or vegetables that’s a whole lot more convenient than that cake that’s wrapped up in the freezer, guess what’s for snack today? Fruits and vegetables.”  

The lesson here is, don’t have food on your desk at work. Make it harder to have easy to access junk food at home. Eat your dinners on smaller plates, pre-portioned food, not “family style” (you tend to eat a lot more that way). Don’t eat food directly from a bag or container, grab a portion of the food and make it a thought out process. Also, when buying soda, if you absolutely have to (please don’t), buy cans and not the big 2-liter sized bottles. Skip the mega sized drinks and stay away from the candy.

The candy eating was interesting, as Wansink said that if you ate 5 candies a day at 125 calories total, that adds up to 12 pounds a year! Now add to that toxicities affect on resting metabolism and you gain weight real fast. As I have lectured about around the world, if you inhibit your metabolism by a mere 5-7 percent, you could put on an amazing 20-50 pounds without eating any more food.