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Those who have failed committing to a diet might be more successful making some changes in their environment. This was the conclusion of the study led by researchers at Cornell University, presented at the Experimental Biology Conference in Anaheim, California.

Everthing Goes Through the Eyes The research, which was led by Brian Wansink, Director of Food and Brand Laboratory at Cornell, analyzed responses from 200 participants of the National Challenge “Mindless Eating,” who received advice that alluded to implement certain changes in their diet, based on three main tasks:
1)  Changing the environment.
2) Changing eating behaviors.
3) Changing food choices.

People who followed recommendations on the environment, such as using a 10-inch plate, moving away dishes with candies, and re-accommodating food shelves, were those who best followed their diet, explained Wansink, author of the book “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think.”

In fact, people lost between 1 and 2 pounds per month for each tip they followed.

According to Wansink, the reason why these people were able to lose weight and others did not is consistency. This is what the “mindless method” is about. It aims to transform unhealthy habits into healthy habits through a series of simple changes concerning the way we think and act toward food.
Some changes we can do in our environment are:
• Using a smaller plate.
• Keeping high-calorie foods out of reach.
• Turning off the television, computer, and telephone during meals.

“Such changes are much easier to follow than eating smaller portions, replacing sweets with fruits or avoiding chocolates and french fries,” says Brian Wansink.

Although dietitians might not agree with leaving the diet in second place, there is no doubt these habit changes may be useful to eat healthy and stay away from things that make us quit our diet.