Simple trick to decrease your waist line
When it comes to losing weight and reducing our waist lines, most people know that diet and exercise is key. What many people don’t know, however, is that the psychology behind eating also plays a big role in how much food we consume, and there is one very simple change that can be made to help drop pounds. SEE ALSO: Walk yourself to better health One of the psychological issues at play when it comes to diet is something called the Delboeuf illusion, a phenomenon of perception that causes us to misjudge identical circles when they are surrounded by circles of varying sizes. In other words, two circles that are the same size may appear to be different based on how much space exists between them and the circle that surrounds them. When applied to plates and food, the Delboeuf illusion is what makes us think we are eating less than we really are. Plate size may not mean much to you when you’re selecting food portions, but that’s because the Delboeuf illusion is happening on a subconscious level. Even being aware of it is often not enough to break it’s power over the mind. According to research in 2012, people who used large plates felt their portions of food were smaller compared to people using smaller plates. This often led people with larger plates to consume more, even though they thought they were managing portion control. What’s more, the affect occurs even if the person dishing out the food portion isn’t eating it; servers in the research served larger portions to larger plates and were unaware they were doing so until after the research was concluded. A report on the research from Food Navigator notes the illusion shouldn’t be discounted; plate size has significantly increased since the 1900’s–by approximately 23 percent. If a larger plate adds just 50 extra calories a day, that could add up to five pounds a year. As important as this psychological twist is to reducing your waistline, experts from Cornell University, which was part of the aforementioned study, indicate controlling plate size could potentially have big financial impacts for consumers. SEE ALSO: 5 exercises for a smaller waist, leaner core “…this research could also help us make significant reductions in food waste and costs, especially in allyoucaneat restaurants, where the use of smaller plates could significantly cut down on the amount of food customers consume and waste,” state materials from the university. “This is a winwin situation that saves restaurant owners money and helps restaurantgoers cut down on serving sizes while still feeling satisfied. It is especially advantageous because it does not leave the consumer feeling cheated.” Forcing the food industry to make plate size changes could improve the health of thousands while cutting costs. In the research, not only did people not notice they were eating larger portions, they also did not attribute any additional financial cost to those portions.The post Simple trick to decrease your waist line appeared first on Voxxi.
When it comes to losing weight and reducing our waist lines, most people know that diet and exercise is key. What many people don’t know, however, is that the psychology behind eating also plays a big role in how much food we consume, and there is one very simple change that can be made to help drop pounds.
SEE ALSO: Walk yourself to better health
One of the psychological issues at play when it comes to diet is something called the Delboeuf illusion, a phenomenon of perception that causes us to misjudge identical circles when they are surrounded by circles of varying sizes.
In other words, two circles that are the same size may appear to be different based on how much space exists between them and the circle that surrounds them.
When applied to plates and food, the Delboeuf illusion is what makes us think we are eating less than we really are.
Plate size may not mean much to you when you’re selecting food portions, but that’s because the Delboeuf illusion is happening on a subconscious level. Even being aware of it is often not enough to break it’s power over the mind. According to research in 2012, people who used large plates felt their portions of food were smaller compared to people using smaller plates. This often led people with larger plates to consume more, even though they thought they were managing portion control.
What’s more, the affect occurs even if the person dishing out the food portion isn’t eating it; servers in the research served larger portions to larger plates and were unaware they were doing so until after the research was concluded.
A report on the research from Food Navigator notes the illusion shouldn’t be discounted; plate size has significantly increased since the 1900’s?by approximately 23 percent. If a larger plate adds just 50 extra calories a day, that could add up to five pounds a year.
As important as this psychological twist is to reducing your waistline, experts from Cornell University, which was part of the aforementioned study, indicate controlling plate size could potentially have big financial impacts for consumers.
SEE ALSO: 5 exercises for a smaller waist, leaner core
“?this research could also help us make significant reductions in food waste and costs, especially in allyoucaneat restaurants, where the use of smaller plates could significantly cut down on the amount of food customers consume and waste,” state materials from the university. “This is a winwin situation that saves restaurant owners money and helps restaurantgoers cut down on serving sizes while still feeling satisfied. It is especially advantageous because it does not leave the consumer feeling cheated.”
Forcing the food industry to make plate size changes could improve the health of thousands while cutting costs. In the research, not only did people not notice they were eating larger portions, they also did not attribute any additional financial cost to those portions.
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The post Simple trick to decrease your waist line appeared first on Voxxi.
