{"id":33668,"date":"2014-11-03T07:15:20","date_gmt":"2014-11-03T12:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=33668"},"modified":"2022-01-20T09:17:35","modified_gmt":"2022-01-20T14:17:35","slug":"fat-proof-diet-willpower-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/fat-proof-diet-willpower-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Tricks to Fat-Proof Your House, No Willpower Required"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Fat-Proof<\/a>
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Think you\u2019re immune to temptation? Let\u2019s be honest: Even the most disciplined healthy eater will occasionally give in to runger<\/a> (running hunger). One minute you\u2019re walking past a box of granola sitting on the kitchen counter; five minutes and 500 calories later, you probably wish you\u2019d hidden that box in a cabinet instead.<\/p>\n

Staying a step ahead of yourself by keeping food out of direct sight is just one of the many ideas in Brian Wansink\u2019s new book Slim By Design<\/a>: Mindless Eating Solutions For Everyday Life. <\/i>He\u2019s the founder of Cornell University\u2019s Food and Brand Lab<\/a>, a think tank dedicated to promoting better nutrition by using psychology to outsmart human nature.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Willpower<\/a>] hasn\u2019t worked in the long run for 90 percent of people,\u201d explains Wansink. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot easier to change your environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who knew you could make weight loss more effortless, just by doing a little strategizing? Try these easy tricks to get started.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/b> 4 Science-Backed Ways to Motivate Yourself to Work Out<\/a><\/p>\n

How to Lose Weight If You\u2019re Short on Willpower<\/b><\/h3>\n

1. Put fresh fruit on the counter.
\n<\/b>\u201cMake it a rule that it\u2019s the only thing allowed on there,\u201d says Wansink, who\u2019s done research showing that having a fruit bowl<\/a> on the counter doubles the amount of fruit people consume. But make sure that bowl isn\u2019t hidden behind the toaster, or covered with your kid\u2019s field trip permission slip. The key, he insists, is to place your fruit within two feet of a heavily traveled pathway in the kitchen, so it\u2019s easy to grab a banana \u2014 as opposed to a Snickers bar \u2014\u00a0on the way out the door. \u201cAt my house, we have the bowl right by the key rack,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

2. Serve meals strategically.
\n<\/b>Here\u2019s how to survive dinner with your diet intact: Serve an appetizer \u2014\u00a0as long as it\u2019s a salad or grilled veggies<\/a>. They\u2019ll fill you up, so you\u2019ll eat fewer high-calorie foods throughout the rest of the meal. Serve your appetizer course at the table, but then sit back<\/a> and ask your family to help themselves to more food in the kitchen. \u201cDon\u2019t put the main dish or starches in the middle of the table because people are too prone to [eat] seconds and thirds,\u201d explains Wansink. His research found the trick decreased the amount of food eaten by 30 percent for men and 10 percent for women.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/b> 19 Ways to Add Flavor for 10 Calories or Less<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Skillfully stock your fridge.
\n<\/b>It\u2019s not enough to make sure you\u2019ve got healthy food in your fridge. How it\u2019s displayed matters, too. Remember Wansink\u2019s principle: \u201cFirst eaten, first seen.\u201d Keep pre-cut fruits and veggies in clear containers in the middle of the fridge and at eye-level so you consider eating them every time you open the door. Studies show that moving the veggie crisper higher up causes you to eat more of the good stuff, too. Plus, it always helps to have hunger-busting high-protein snacks<\/a>, such as yogurt, string cheese and sliced turkey, within easy reach.<\/p>\n

“Even small changes make a big difference over the long run.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When it comes to storing the pad thai<\/a> from last night\u2019s takeout, wrap it in foil or put in it an opaque container so you\u2019re not constantly reminded that it would make a delicious snack.<\/p>\n

4. Buy smaller dishes.
\n<\/b>The jug-sized wine glasses you just bought may be fun, but they\u2019re making your five-ounce serving of Merlot look like just a swig. Smaller is better for dishes, too. Wansink invited his colleagues to an ice cream social<\/a> and found that those with a three-ounce spoon dished out 14 percent more than those with a two-ounce spoon. He also found that people think they\u2019re eating a lot more, if they eat their meals on plates no bigger than 10 inches in diameter, as opposed to 12 inches, which is the standard size in American kitchens.<\/p>\n

5. Make single-servings easy to grab.
\n<\/b>Even healthy snacks can go awry: We all know it can be tough to eat only a few nuts when you have the whole jar in front of you. Divvy up that super-sized tub of cashews into single-portion packs to avoid accidentally downing a gazillion calories worth of your favorite nut.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the same tactic can increase your consumption of healthy, low-calorie fruits when snacking. Wansink and his team found that placing cut-up fruit in small bags encouraged elementary school children to triple<\/i> their fruit consumption, as opposed to when they were offered whole fruit. Because the kids could clearly see the fruit, and the bag was convenient to carry around, healthy snacking<\/a> increased.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/b> What 200 Calories of Nuts Looks Like<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEven small changes make a big difference over the long run,\u201d he says. \u201cTry out a few of these, and you\u2019ll notice you\u2019re dropping pounds<\/a> with a few months, and it\u2019s not that hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you tried any of these tricks, or have a few of your own? Tell us in the comments section.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes willpower alone isn\u2019t enough to help you reach your weight loss goals. These easy tricks will help you avoid hidden diet wreckers in your house. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":33671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7,18],"tags":[41,51,104,103,341,357,285],"class_list":["post-33668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","category-weight-loss","tag-diets","tag-food-choices","tag-goals","tag-motivation","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2running","tag-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}