EatQOD

Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink, Ph.D.

http://www.amazon.com/Mindless-Eating-M ... 553804340/

This books looks at dieting from a behavioral perspective. Dr. Wansink is a Ph.D. in marketing researcher who has done a host of studies in food labs to see what makes people eat more or less off, their reactions to food, etc.

Some of his findings are not surprising, but they are documented by carefully done studies - such as his discovery that people, even trained nutritionists, ALWAYS eat more when food is served in larger containers or on larger plates.

His idea is that there is a "mindless margin" of about 100-200 calories per day, where you eat not because you're hungry, but because you're responding to some hidden cues. You can reduce this margin without feeling any hunger, and over time, this is 3000-6000 calories per month, or about 0.85 - 1.7 lbs. per month.

Ways of reducing your mindless margin? Smaller plates, use food tradeoffs (I will only have dessert if I exercise, etc.), avoid binging in restaurants, at dinner, identify the slowest eater and start eating after him or her, etc.

Most of the book describes his studies, and his actual recommendations are not so well researched in terms of their effectiveness, and they are presented in Appendices.

What to learn from Mindless Eating:

That most overeating is behavioral. I still think that, all things put together, you will tend to overeat on at least some days, and you need to build in some structured "non-eat" or lower calorie days to make up for this.

The author is extremely intelligent and the book is witty and a fun read.