Basic Pursuits

Twice on TV I've seen this experiment. Once on the Discovery Channel; once on CNN. Both sort of inferred that it was a unique idea. Obviously, it wasn't. But nevermind that. Since both came up with the same results, it proves my point.

Two sets of diners are served something with bones like chicken wings or ribs. For one group waiters cleared away the bones as soon as the meat was eaten. The other group was allowed to let the bones pile up in front of them.

Guess which group ate the least.

Duh. The people who saw the bones pile up in front of them ate much less than the people whose bones were taken away immediately.

The CNN experimenter concluded, among other things, that eating is visual. We use our eyes to gauge how much to eat as well as feelings of satiety.

I want to go one better. The bone watchers, the ones who saw the bones piling up in front of them, were logging their food!

Most successful dieters they keep track of how much they eat. In today's society where we live among mountains of food, it's quite possible to eat all the time. From the looks of people, many of us do. How is it possible to know how much you eat unless you keep track?

Food logging is an individual responsibility. No one can do it for you. You can hire Nutrasystems or a comparable organization to keep track of your food for a while. But after you finish the program, you have to keep track yourself or back comes the weight.

Technology has made food logging is easier and easier. Check out these food logging tools.

Photo by Emily