Why We Eat More Than We Think

Why We Eat More Than We Think

I attended the 35^th Annual Idea World Convention in Las Vegas for five days in July. The Convention brought fitness professionals—including personal trainers, coaches and health club managers—from across the country and even from abroad. I attended 18 lectures and workshops on fitness and nutrition. In this and coming articles I’ll share what I learned.

I’ll start with what I gathered in an entertaining 90-minute lecture on food psychology presented by Dr. Jim Painter, Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health. His current areas of research include mindless eating and stealthy calorie intake plus reducing the risk of heart disease through phyto-nutrient and dietary intervention.

Dr. Painter began his talk with a few statistics: Roughly 70% of American adults are considered overweight (BMI of 25+). And the percentage of American adults who are defined as obese (BMI of 30+) is exploding. In 1990 it was 14%, in 2015 it had climbed to 38%. Four out of five Americans are trying to lose weight or maintain their current weight.

Some of the reasons given for the rising percentages are: Lack of exercise; Sedentary lifestyles; Stress and pressure; Advertising; Genetics; “Deep emotional needs”; “Haven’t found the right diet”; Sugar and refined foods have increased; Fiber and whole foods have decreased.

However, Dr. Painter has a different explanation: We lose track of how much we are eating. Most people are not aware of the volume of food they consume, which often leads to overeating. And portion sizes have increased over the past few decades. Yet, there are effective methods by which we can control our portions to reduce intake.

Portion Sizes Have Increased Over the Years

Food/Beverage	Year of Introduction	Size at Introduction (ounces)	2002 Sizes (ounces)
Hershey bar	1908	0.6	1.6, 2.6, 4.0.7.0, 8.0
Budweiser	1936	7	7, 12, 22, 40
Burger King Fries	1954	2.6	2.6, 4.1, 5.7, 6.9
Burger King Sodas	1954	12, 16	12, 16, 22, 32, 42
McDonald’s Burger	1955	1.6	1.6, 3.2, 4.0, 8.0

Other examples:

25 years ago bagels were only 3” in diameter with 140 calories, today they have 350 calories

The Nestle Toll House Cookies recipe when written in 1949 yielded 100 cookies, now it yields only 60 cookies

Dr. Painter has undertaken a couple of experiments to demonstrate how we lose track of how much we’re eating. The first included 54 students. Half were served soup in a normal bowl and half were served soup in a self-refilling bowl. (The self-refilling bowls slowly and imperceptibly refilled as their contents were consumed.) The participants who were unknowingly eating from the self-refilling bowls ate 73% more soup than those eating from normal bowls. However, the participants eating from soup-refilling did not believe they consumed more nor did they perceive themselves as more sated than those eating from normal bowls.

In the second, he invited volunteers to an “all you can eat” ice cream tasting. He divided these volunteers into two groups. He gave the first group big bowls, big spoons and big scoopers. To the second group he gave a bowl half the size, and much smaller spoons and scoopers. He told both groups that they could have as much ice cream as they desired. After a period of time, he asked the volunteers if they felt they were full. Everyone in each group said yes, yet the group with the bigger containers on average ate twice as much ice cream as the group with the smaller containers on average.

Instead of Super Size Me change to Portion Size Me, advises Dr. Painter. One of the easiest ways to eat less is to just reduce the size of the bowls, plates or utensils you use.

There’s also the effect of visibility and convenience. Whether it’s cookies, candies or pretzels, placing bowls of them out of sight or out of reach affects consumption. For instance, in an experiment with Hershey’s Kisses in an office, an average of 9 candies were eaten when they were on top of the desk, 6 when they were in a desk drawer, and 3 when they were two yards away from the desk.

Another suggestion is when eating out, ask for a pre-meal to-go box and dish out what you wish to take home instead of asking for a post-meal to-go box. In an experiment with participants eating spaghetti at a restaurant, the average amount of spaghetti consumed was 16 ounces when asking for the to-go box after the meal compared to 11 ounces average when making use of the pre-meal to-go box.

Thus, according to Dr. Painter, you can “eat mindlessly” if you change the dining environment through regarding portion sizes, using smaller containers and packages and making what you munch between meals less visible & convenient.

Here’s a link to a fun and informative video from a CBS Early Morning Show in which Dr. Painter explains Portion Size Me! It includes the “all you can eat” ice cream experiment. (6:00):   https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2TsF0bCEtHw

Dr. Painter also spoke about “eating mindfully.” This includes self monitoring such as keeping a food diary of what you eat and how much eat. He also talked about paying attention to the “social pressure” from eating companions at restaurants on second helpings and ordering desserts. He ended his lecture by reminding us that eating less added sugar and more protein and fiber in our diets can also help reduce weight gain.

To learn more, check out Dr. Painter’s professional web site:  http://www.drjimpainter.com/blog/