A "Trick" for the "Treats"

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
A "Trick" for the "Treats"
6
Fri, 11-03-2006 - 5:43am

This is so worth remembering...


Out of Sight, Out of Mouth


Is it silly to hide the leftover Halloween candy -- from yourself?

Nope. In a Cornell University study, office workers who kept candy in a clear dish within easy reach ate far more treats than when the candy was kept in an opaque container at least 6 feet away. And at the end of the day, the workers also underestimated how much candy they had taken from the clear dish. Scary how a little thing like location can affect your willpower. Stash treats out of sight so you're less likely to trick yourself into mindless munching.


Get this: If you have to go get stashed-away candy, you'll feel like you treated yourself more often than you actually did. Why might you underestimate the number of treats nibbled from a close-at-hand clear jar and overestimate the number taken from an opaque container that's farther away? It's easy to lose track of portions when snacks are within reach and you're eating mindlessly while doing other things, like reading e-mail or watching TV. But when you have to get up to retrieve the munchables, you think before acting.

Concealing candy works in a couple of other ways, too. Deliberately putting those miniature Snickers in an out-of-the-way place forces you to make an extra effort to reach them. And treats that are out of sight are at least partly out of mind. So go ahead: Trick yourself out of treating yourself.



Originally published on 11/2/2006.
RealAge Tip

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2003
Fri, 11-03-2006 - 10:40am

Thanks for the tips IG!!


Too bad my leftover halloween candy situation is coinciding with my PMS cravings.

Avatar for lovmy2kids
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-03-2006 - 10:46am
A trick we use at our house is we put it in the freezer.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2003
Fri, 11-03-2006 - 11:20am

That's a great idea Darcy!


iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2003
Fri, 11-03-2006 - 12:45pm

The freezer idea is a good one! It's true about out of sight, out of mind ... when I've put candy in the cupboard at times I've completely forgotten about it, whereas when I put it in a bowl on my coffee table you can bet I snacked on it a lot, probably more than I was aware of.


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Although I knew we all knew this 'trick' I thought it was a good reminder to share! (And Darcy- I do the freezer thing too. I even keep cookies (when I have some) in there!!)
~IG

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2005

I took our left over candy that we were giving out with me to pick kids up from school and gave it to my teenage son's friends.

The WeatherPixie <