Can changing your environment work better in controlling bad eating habits than dieting?
| Nov 22, 2018, 16:07 IST
Aren't you just tired of trying diet after diet without seeing any particularly positive results? Fad diets have taken over the world and everyone is trying just about everything they can to stay fit. And while most of these diets don't work, all studies will tell you that they do. So, researchers looked at this problem from a different angle and guess what they found. A study was conducted to find out whether people eat more when they see food around them and the answer is yes, they do.
“The eating behaviour of those with higher relative weights is susceptible to the presence of palatable foods in the environment,” one study concluded. This means that when you see tempting food around you, you'll be more prone to eating it. The study found that most people don't overeat because they're hungry, they overeat because they're tempted. And knowing that they're not supposed to be eating unhealthy food doesn't really help counter the fact that they end up eating it anyway.
Researchers suggest that the best thing to do in these cases is to change your environment. Have a cookie jar on your desk? Put it away in a shelf. Distance yourself from food both mentally and physically. If you're tempted to eat something, distract yourself with other thoughts or do some other activity like listening to music. Rather than trying fad diet after fad diet, change your environment and watch how it changes you.
“The eating behaviour of those with higher relative weights is susceptible to the presence of palatable foods in the environment,” one study concluded. This means that when you see tempting food around you, you'll be more prone to eating it. The study found that most people don't overeat because they're hungry, they overeat because they're tempted. And knowing that they're not supposed to be eating unhealthy food doesn't really help counter the fact that they end up eating it anyway.
Researchers suggest that the best thing to do in these cases is to change your environment. Have a cookie jar on your desk? Put it away in a shelf. Distance yourself from food both mentally and physically. If you're tempted to eat something, distract yourself with other thoughts or do some other activity like listening to music. Rather than trying fad diet after fad diet, change your environment and watch how it changes you.