Your environment has an incredible ability to shape your behavior. And small changes in the physical environment around you can make it easier for you to create good habits. With that in mind, I’d like to share 10 simple strategies for design an environment that invites you to eat better without thinking about it or spending time and energy on it.
Tips to eat better
Before I share the strategies, I would like to give credit to the researcher behind these ideas. Brian Wansink is a professor at Cornell University and has conducted several studies on how the environment shapes your eating decisions. And a good part of the ideas that he expressed below are part of his popular book, Mindless Eating:
1. Use smaller plates
Big plates mean big portions; therefore eat more. According to a study conducted by Wansink and his team, if you make a simple change in plate size you can consume up to 22% less food per year.
If you think that just “putting less food on the plate” will achieve the same effect, you are mistaken. This image demonstrates why. When you eat a small portion of a large plate, your mind feels dissatisfied. Meanwhile, the same serving will feel more filling when eaten from a small plate. In this image, the black circle is the same size, but your brain and stomach don’t see it the same way.
2. Make water more affordable
Most of us take a sip of liquids like juice or coffee while we work. Instead, try this: Buy a large bottle of water and keep it near you all day. If you have it nearby, you will choose to take it more often and you will avoid consuming less healthy options naturally.
3. Do you want to drink less soda? Use tall, skinny glasses, instead of short, wide ones.
Look at the image below, which line is longer, the vertical or the horizontal? Both are the same length, but our brains have a tendency to overestimate vertical lines. In other words, tall glasses appear larger to our eyes. And that’s because height makes things look bigger than width, so you drink less out of tall glasses. In fact, on average you drink 20% less tall glasses than short ones.
4. Use plates that have a high color contrast with your food.
When the color of the plate is similar to that of the food, you naturally help yourself to more because your brain has a hard time distinguishing the size of the portion. Because of that, dark green or blue plates are ideal because they contrast with foods like pasta and potatoes (so you serve less), but instead don’t contrast with vegetables and greens (so that you serve yourself more of them).
5. Place healthy foods in a key space
For example, you could put a plate of fruit or nuts near the front door or anywhere else you pass before leaving your house. When you’re hungry and in a hurry, you’re likely to grab the first thing you see.
6. Wrap unhealthy foods in foil, and healthy foods in plastic.
The old saying “out of sight, out of mind” is true. Eating is not only a physical event, but an emotional one. Your mind determines what it wants to eat based on what your eyes see. Also, if you hide unhealthy foods or make them hard to get to, you’re less likely to eat them.
7. Keep healthy foods in large containers, and unhealthy foods in small ones.
Large containers tend to be more eye-catching, and as a result, you’re more likely to eat what’s in them. Instead, small packages can be months in your kitchen. If you buy a large package of unhealthy food, repack it in smaller bags; this will ensure that at least you don’t eat too much each time.
8. Serve your meals using the “half plate” rule.
You can also design your eating environment. When you serve yourself to eat, start by putting half a plate of fruits or vegetables. Then fill the other half with another saucer.
9. Use the “outer perimeter” strategy to buy healthy food
The concept is simple: when you go to the supermarket, don’t walk through the aisles. He only buys on the outer perimeter of the store, where the healthiest things are generally found: fruits, vegetables, fish and eggs.
10. Apply the design of the environment in other areas of your life
If you look at each of these strategies, you’ll notice that a small change adds more steps between you and harmful behaviors, and decreases those between you and beneficial ones.
For example:
- Wrapping unhealthy food in foil adds another step: You have to see what’s inside and then decide whether or not to eat it. Instead, plastic bags show their contents without having to open them.
- Using smaller plates adds another step between you and eating more. If you want more food, you need to get up to help yourself again.
You can use this mentality in practically everything in your life. If you want a bad behavior to be more difficult, then add steps between you and it. For example, if you want to exercise, leave your shoes and clothes out from the night before, reduce one step so that you get ready in the morning to exercise.
Editorial Team The editorial team of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which for more than 27 years has worked to promote entrepreneurship.