2006 Tip #13:
Spoons

“The bigger the spoon, the more we slurp…”

This headline caught my eye.  (Science and Health section of the Contra Costa Times July 31st.)

The story reminded me that a large part of our challenge in getting away from bad habits and building good habits has to do with our environment—the choices and expectations in that environment.  A large part of the effort of getting out of RUTs --the “Routine Unproductive Tracks” in our lives-- is being aware of the environmental and cultural frameworks we live in and then taking action to change them for the better wherever we can.

Spoons make a difference!

Serving size is a huge factor!

The experiment:  researchers put a pound of M&Ms in a bowl in the lobby of an upscale apartment building:  “Eat Your Fill…please use the spoon to serve yourself.”

Over the course of 10 days, the candy was left out “sometimes with a spoon that held a quarter-cup, and other times with a tablespoon.  Sure enough, people consistently took more M&Ms on days when the bigger spoon was provided, about two-thirds more on average than when the tablespoon was present.”

Not surprising.  Logical.  But what implications!  Let’s hear it for smaller spoons!

The fast food industry figured this out some time ago—going to more expensive and profitable supersized meals.  Andrew Geier of the University of Pennsylvania notes that unit size makes a tremendous difference---“people who used to be satisfied by a 12-ounce can of soda may now feel that a 20-ounce bottle is just right.  The supersizing of fast food and restaurant portions is one of the reasons for the surge in obesity.”

He points out in the June issue of Psychological Science that “people learn what an appropriate food unit is from their culture.  For example, yogurt containers in French supermarkets are a bit more than half the size of their American counterparts.  Yet French shoppers don’t make up the difference by eating more containers of the stuff.”

Brian Wansink is another researcher at Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab and author of soon to be released book Mindless Eating:  Why We Eat More Than We Think.
Our American consumption of calories is way over what is needed to keep a person healthy—often way more than an active athlete needs who is burning an extra 1000 calories a day.  Some of the overeating is due to this upsizing of unit size and some is due to environmental temptations—the proximity of the extra portions and snacks we don’t need.

Suggestions:

• Use smaller spoons.
• Serve smaller portion sizes to your family and guests.
• Leave the loaf of bread in the center of the table at dinner?  Or put out just a few slices?
• Leave the pasta or rice bowl right out on the table?  If a second helping is desired, it’s a short walk to the kitchen counter top or stove.
• Use smaller serving spoons.
• Snacks—open a can of cashews or bag of pretzels and leave it out?  Or pour a reasonable snack into a bowl and put the rest away---out of sight and easy access.
• In restaurants, split the salad and/or the main course with someone else in your party.
• Look on the menu for smaller sized meals.
• Leave the newly opened bottle of wine on the table?  Or when will you put it away? --- after two or after three glasses each have been poured? 
• Leave the whole carton of ice cream out when serving dessert?  The whole bag of cookies?  Or serve a small helping and put the carton and bag away?
• Choices at the dairy shelves in our markets—buy the small yogurts and cottage cheese cartons or the bigger cartons? 

 

Geier:  “Whatever the size of the banana is, that’s what you eat, a small banana or a big banana. And whatever’s served on our plate, it just seems locked into our heads:  that’s a meal.”

Let’s unlock our heads! 

What are your strategies?  What are the right spoons for you?