Excess weight and obesity are problems that plague many of us in today’s world with easy access to plentiful food. Excess weight has severe health implications leading to a high incidence of diabetes, heart conditions and even cancer. Obesity also has an impact on a persons self esteem and can lead to emotional problems.
The premise is that we are unconsciously manipulated by our physical environment and so we should use it to our advantage.
There are some obvious changes to our environment such as making healthy food, such as fruit and vegetables, easily accessible and in sight while keeping less healthy snacking food such as cereals in a harder to reach cupboard.
There are other less obvious changes to our eating habits that make a measurable change to the amount we eat. Dr Warnsink has found that the size of the plate we eat from has a large influence on the amount we eat. He suggest eating from a smaller plate.
Dr Wansink offers strategies for reducing food consumption at home, in restaurants and for negotiating shopping in a supermarket so as to eat a more healthy diet. While some of this may seem obvious, the value of the approach is to find ways in which we do not have to consciously work at reducing calories.
Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life by Dr. Brian Warnsink.

