Look before you eat

You have heard the saying your eyes are bigger than your stomach, well there is some truth to the phrase. We are conditioned from an early are to eat up everything on our plates, and the larger the plate, the more we eat.

So the obvious solution is choose a smaller plate. But it is not that simple, studies have shown that when people were given the same sized meal on large plate and then on small plates, the people who ate the meal on the small plates reported feeling more satisfied than those who ate off the larger plates. This is due to our perception, a meal will look smaller if served on a large plate, and we feel that we should be hungry as we didn't eat a full meal, whereas the subjects who ate the same amount of food, off the small plate, perceived their plates to be full, and therefore a complete meal. The research went on to show that when people were given smaller plates containing less food, they still reported the same level of satiation after eating.

We also think we have a larger drink when it is served in a tall glass, so if you have to have a non diet friendly drink, either soda or wine and beer, try a smaller drink in a tall glass, you will trick your mind into thinking you had more. This goes for deserts too, you will feel more satisfied with your sundae in the tall dish over the squat wide one.

The research also went on to discover that the colour of your plate and also influence your choice when serving up your food, and then eating it. Dr Wansink's research showed that when people served up food on plates with little or no contrast to the colour of the food, they chose to load the plate with more food. When given a plate that had a strong contrast with the colour of the food, they typically chose to serve up a smaller portion. As we can't all have a range of plates to colour match to each meal, dark blue tableware was deemed to be the most effective in reducing serving sizes.

So now we have the perfect small, dark blue plate, what should we be putting on it? To maintain a healthy balanced diet, we need to get a good ratio of protein, carbohydrates and vegetables. The simple rule is half of your plate should be vegetables and or fruit, one quarter protein and one quarter starch or carbohydrates. If you are struggling with knowing how much you should be eating a simple guide to remember is one serving of protein is the the size and thickness of one palm of your hand for a woman, and 2 palms for a man. Once you know this, the rest of your meal is served up in relation to your protein.

Finally presentation is also worth the effort, top restaurants and advertisers know that we eat first with our eyes and imagination. If a dish looks sumptuous and delicious we have already decided that we will enjoy the meal before we have tasted a single bite. Look at the image below and decide which meal looks like it would taste nice.

Take a few minutes to make your food look nice on the plate, your taste buds will thank you for it.


The Science:
Wansink, Brian (2006), Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think, New York: Bantam–Dell.