Weight Loss Tips: Hide the Snacks

Hide The SnacksHide The Snacks

If you don’t see them, you won’t eat them.  

Hide The Snacks

Weight Loss Tip: Hide The Snacks

Chips, nachos and curls

Chips, Tortilla Chips, and curls

Out of sight, out of mind, out of … mouth?  If you put the treats that you want to avoid in the back of your drawer, cabinet, or pantry, you will eat less of it.  I agree it is better not to buy them at all, but if you do buy them, put them somewhere out of sight.  If they are in sight, you are more likely to mindlessly grab them during commercials and strap on that feedbag.  

I found that if I put the chips on top of my cabinets, that I forget about them.  They are above my sight line, and I rarely see them.  This tactic allows me for to avoid temptation.  It is not good for expiration dates, but I will live with that risk.  Cornell University studied this concept by looking at the proverbial office candy dish we all like to graze during the work day[1].  They looked at the proximity of the bowl and transparent versus opaque containers.  They found that moving the dish out of reach and making it opaque reduced consumption by about two pieces.  

The Bottomline: Move treats so you cannot reach or see them.  If you can resist the temptation to buy them, don’t bring them in your house.  

Footnotes
[1]Wansink, Painter, and Lee, “The Office Candy Dish: Proximity’s Influence on Estimated and Actual Consumption.”
Wansink, B, J E Painter, and Y-K Lee. “The Office Candy Dish: Proximity’s Influence on Estimated and Actual Consumption.” International Journal of Obesity. Springer Nature, January 17, 2006. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0803217
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
 

About the Author

ChuckH
I am a family physician who has served in the US Army. In 2016, I found myself overweight, out of shape, and unhealthy, so I made a change to improve my health. This blog is the chronology of my path to better health and what I have learned along the way.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.