The problem: you have to eat in United States, the location of an obesity epidemic, every day.
This presentation will help you create a game plan of good eating habits.
The Genius’ Playbook:
Understand the habit loop and
cues to eat.
Recommended reading: The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg.
Play video clip
“How to Break Habits”
from www.charlesduhigg.com
The Habit Loop
One cue to eat is flavorful food.
There are many flavorful foods.
The Habit Loop
“You can give three-year-olds a lot of food, and they will simply eat until they are no longer hungry. They are unaffected by serving size. By age five, however, they will pretty much eat whatever they’re given. . . the same thing happens with adults.”
Recommended reading: Brian Wansink’s Mindless Eating.
Food remaining on the plate.
Food remaining in the bucket.
Food remaining in the bag.
And drink remaining in the cup.
Food and drink remaining on the plate are problems if portion sizes are incorrect.
The Habit Loop
The obesity epidemic has resulted in multiple diets designed to reduce weight.
Low fat diet.
The obesity epidemic has resulted in multiple diets designed to reduce weight.
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Low fat diet. Low carb diet.
The obesity epidemic has resulted in multiple diets designed to reduce weight.
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Low fat diet. Low carb diet. Balanced diet.
Dieters may eat candy bars because they believe they are eating the “right” food.
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The Habit Loop
We eat to fulfill an emotional need.
(This woman is obviously a model.)
The Habit Loop
We Eat Flavorful Food
We clean our plates.
We empty our buckets.
We finish off the chips.
We finish our drinks
We eat the “right” food until it’s gone.
We continue to eat emotionally.
(This woman is still obviously a model.)
The Habit Loop
The Habit Loop
We are rewarded with the aroma, texture, and taste of flavorful food.
We are rewarded by an empty plate.
We have done the “right” thing by eating the “right” food.
And our mood changes. Or not.
The Genius’ Playbook:
Understand the habit loop and
cues to eat.
What’s in your repertory?
There are many cues which do not lead us to stop eating.
Flavorful food is not a cue to stop eating.
A large portion or remaining food on the plate, in the bucket, or in the bag is not a cue to stop eating.
The “right food” is not a cue to stop eating.
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An emotion which leads to eating is not a cue to stop eating.
What about hunger?Is hunger an emotion?
Is what you are feeling now hunger?
Is what you feel when you smell bacon hunger?
“You can give three-year-olds a lot of food, and they will simply eat until they are no longer hungry. They are unaffected by serving size. By age five, however, they will pretty much eat whatever they’re given. . . the same thing happens with adults.”
In fact, people do not stop eating simply because they are no longer hungry.
Even if they did stop eating when they were no longer, as Wansink notes: “Many research studies show that it takes up to 20 minutes for our body and brain to signal satiation, so that we realize we are full.”
Wansink: “Here’s the problem. We Americans start, finish, and clear the table for many of our meals in less than 20 minutes.”
Wansink: “Twenty minutes is enough time to inhale two or three more pieces of pizza and chug a large refill of Pepsi.”
Wansink: “Most of us actually decide how much to eat before we put any food into our mouths. We eyeball how much we think we want, dish it out, and then eat until it’s gone.”
What are cues to stop eating?
Wansink again: “In reality, scientists don’t know what makes us stop eating.” It seems to be a combination of things, including. . .
How much we chew.
How much we swallow.
“Over the course of a day or two, a person eats about the same weight of food.”
Recommended reading: Barbara Rolles’ Volumetrics.
How much we think about what we eat.
Imagine slowly eating a bowl of popcorn while paying close attention to every bite.
Imagine the usual alternate method of eating popcorn.
It is easy to see who is behind movie popcorn.
How long we have been eating.
Fork and spoon from mydietdinnerware.com
What are cues to stop eating?
How much we chew, swallow, think about food, and time spent eating
Step 3:A game plan.
We need a few proscriptions.
Though shalt have no other gods before me.Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.Thou shalt not kill.Thou shalt not commit adulteryThou shalt not steal.Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.Thou shalt not covet neighbor’s wife.Thou shalt not covet neighbor’s house or servants.
Thou shalt not eat flavorful food for flavor alone.
Thou shalt not eat too large a portion.
Thou shalt not eat simplybecause it’s the “right” food.
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Thou shalt not engage in emotional eating.
FOOD PROSCRIPTIONS
Thou shalt not eat flavorful food for flavor alone.
Thou shalt eat too large a portion.
Thou shalt not eat simply because it’s the “right” food.
Thou shalt not engage in emotional eating.
We need a few authorizations.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.Honour thy father and thy mother.
Rule #1. Get most of your nutrition from low calorie density foods.
An “Calorie Dense” food is one with more than 1 calorie/gram.
A high calorie density meal.
A low calorie density meal.
What were the cues to stop eating?
Which meal would cause you to chew more?
Which meal wouldcause you to swallow more?
Which meal would make usthink more about food?
Which meal wouldtake longer to eat?
Most food found in the produce aisle is low calorie density.
Most food found in the remainder of the store is high calorie density.
It is necessary to read the label to tell whether food from the “interior” of the grocery store is low calorie
density or not.
The “right” foods are high calorie density foods.
Most foods in American cuisine are high calorie density.
There are two ways to follow Rule #1, and to get most of your nutrition from low
calorie density foods.
Method #1 (easier, healthier, more straightforward): Only eat foods that are low
calorie density foods.
Method #2 (more difficult): Balance any high calorie density foods with low calorie density
foods.
Let’s have a cookie.
Let’s balance the cookie with broccoli.
Cal/gm gm ounces Cal
Cookie 3.6 25 1 90
Broccoli
The calculation is. . .
Cal/gm gm ounces Cal
Cookie 3.6 25 1 90
Brocolli 0.34 265 9 90
180
It takes 9 ounces of broccoli to balance.4 cookies is two pounds of broccoli.
Let’s have a slice of pizza, in this case Pizza Hut meat lover’s. Protein is good, right?
Let’s balance the pizza with garden salad (no salad dressing, just lettuce, cukes, and tomatoes).
Cal/gm gm ounces CalPizza 2.90 107 4 310
Garden salad
Let’s balance the pizza with garden salad (no salad dressing, just lettuce, cukes, and tomatoes).
Cal/gm gm ounces CalPizza 2.90 107 4 310
Garden salad 0.2 1550 55 310620
Moral: you have to be very careful when eating high calorie density
foods to adhere to rule #1
Rule #2. Eat consciously.
Rule #3. Eat slowly.
Rule #4: Serve yourself one correct meal, then wait 20 minutes before
seconds or desert.
The margin of error when serving low calorie density foods is much larger than for high calorie density foods.
10 calories 200 calories
FOOD AUTHORIZATIONS
Get most of your nutrition from low calorie density foods.
Eat consciously.
Eat slowly.
Serve yourself one correct meal, then wait 20 minutes before seconds or dessert.
Summary so far.
The Genius exploits The Habit Loop to entice you to eat more food than you need.
He uses a variety of cues that lead to eating, but not to stopping eating.
EATING COMMANDMENTS
Thou shalt not eat flavorful food for flavor alone.Thou shalt eat too large a portion.Thou shalt not eat simply because it’s the “right” food.Thou shalt not engage in emotional eating.Get most of your nutrition from low calorie density foods.Eat consciously.Eat slowly.Serve yourself one correct meal, then wait 20 minutes before seconds or dessert.
All of this is known and published. Why do we continue to fail?
You have to EXECUTE!
One additional concept is needed for us to execute.
An experiment was run on undergraduate students at UCLA.
Students had a total of five minutes to solve as many of these problems as
they could.
When no cheating was possible, the students averaged 3.1 problems in five
minutes.
When cheating was possible, the students averaged 4.1 problems in five
minutes.
Before the test, write down the names of ten books you read in high school.
After writing down the book titles, the students averaged 4.1 problems in five
minutes. Cheating still occurred.
Before the test, write down as many of the Ten Commandments as you can.
After writing down the Commandments, the students averaged 3.1 problems in five
minutes. Cheating stopped.
Before taking the test, the students signed under the statement “I understand that this
study falls under the MIT honor system.”
After signing under the statement, the students averaged 3.1 problems in five
minutes. Cheating stopped.
The student all knew cheating was wrong, but apparently forgot their play book.
How do we remember our play book?
www.calibratemybrain.com
Our web site offers a brief reminder of the “commandments.”
The presented slides will vary in the exact wording and image used to convey the
message, but the short presentation will be based on what we’ve covered in this
lecture.
Flavor alone should not be the sole reason you start or continue eating.
Do not eat flavorful food for flavor alone.
Flavorful food is delicious but will still be delicious after you’ve eaten too much.
Be careful when eating flavorful food: it’s a cue to eat that persists after you’ve eaten enough.
Low calorie density foods are high in volume and micronutrients.
Low calorie density foods are your true friends.
Low calorie density foods keep you lean and fit.
Low calorie density foods are good for your body.
You can become or stay obese by eating the “right” food.
Concentrate on your food while eating.
Take your time when you eat.
Enjoy every mouthful.
Serve yourself one correct meal, then wait 20 minutes before seconds or