It’s Thinner in Paris
Most people, dieters and non-dieters alike, are aware of the fact that the French seem to have more of a handle on their weight than the average American. And we often wonder why. This is a place known for decadent, fattening foods: rich pastries, cakes, cheese, baguettes and heavy cream-based sauces. What gives? According to […]
Do You Live the Double Life of a Bulimic?
Dear Tricia, I’m a 43-year old woman with an eating disorder. I’ve been bulimic for 25 years now, starting when I was 18. I went to treatment when I was 20, but I still continue to purge. I always thought that I’d grow out of it, or that I’d stop when I became a professional, […]
Even the Food Experts Get Fooled
During a “wrap party” for 20/20 who shot an episode on food consumption, Brian Wansink (author of Mindless Eating) and other researchers played a trick on the attendants, who were all experts on matters related to food. At the ice-cream social that was held, the researchers gave out either medium-size or large-size bowls to their […]
Label Love
We all know people (or we are those people) with fierce label loyalty. You simply won’t drink Pepsi if there is no Coke available. If you’re going to gobble down a pint of ice cream, why choose anything else but Ben & Jerry’s? But is this label loyalty really worth it? “A number of studies […]
Why are family and friends sabotaging your success?
Dear Tricia, I’ve been doing my best to treat myself with care over the past several months. I’ve noticed; however, that a few of my friends and family members are subtly trying to sabotage my success. They bake me cookies, they don’t honor my requests for specific foods when I eat at their homes and […]
Eating with your Eyes Closed
We are creatures of habit…and suggestion. Often the mere mention that something is “delicious” is enough to prepare our minds and taste buds for a taste extravaganza, whether it’s really that tasty or not. Brian Wansink proved this theory on suggestion and its relationship to food in his book, Mindless Eating, where he tested 32 […]
How is a Comfort Food Born?
“Past associations are the most common reason a food becomes a comfort food. Some of these associations can be linked to specific individuals (‘My father loved green bean casserole; we ate it every holiday and on his birthday’)…or specific events (‘My mom always gave me soup when it was cold outside or when I was […]
The Boob Tube Factor
Most of us inherently know that people who watch a lot of television are more likely to be overweight, but how bad is it? Well according to Brian Wansink in Mindless Overeating, watching television is considered a “triple threat.” Aside from leading you to eat, it leads you to not pay attention to how much […]
How Comforting is your Food?
We all have our own individual take on the best comfort food, based on our own personal history as well as our physiology. With that said, Brian Wansink (author of the book Mindless Eating) researched 1,004 Americans to find out what comforts them the most: “Although potato chips topped the list, 40 percent of the […]
The Perils of Speed Eating
As we begin to bring more awareness to the moment, the exact moment, when we reach for food, we also begin to notice how quickly we consume food. From Brian Wansink’s book Mindless Eating: Here’s the problem. We Americans start, finish and clear the table for many of our meals in LESS than 20 minutes. […]
