The ritual of eating

I caught just a portion of a news program about (over)eating, where
they made popcorn, then let it go stale, but served it at a movie
theater. Apparently, some people ate all the popcorn anyway and some
of those didn't even seem to notice it was stale. On the street when
they asked people to taste this same stale popcorn, almost everyone
said it wasn't good though and they didn't want any of it. The
conclusion was that you shouldn't eat and do some other activity like
watching TV, cause you tend to just eat because it's there and perhaps
you associate a movie or TV and popcorn (or chips or whatever).

Another possibility is that you tune out the eating and eat without
even thinking about it because it is there. Some people seem to do
better without having food, especially high-cal foods around the
house.

Another overeating program on TV several months ago had to do with
eating where you could see the empty plate. In the experiment they
ran, there were chicken bones and the dirty plates left on the table.
Contrasted to this, they served the same chicken, but as people would
finish their serving of chicken, somone would remove the bones. There
were always new, clean empty plates (like a buffet) left on the table.
Those people apparently would keep eating and in the end they ate more
than those who saw the evidence of what they had eaten in front of
them. Out of sight, out of mind might be the moral here, and it might
explain how people eat more while involved in some other activity like
watching a movie. Perhaps that hand goes to autopilot and they just
keep reaching into the bag without thinking even if they like what
they're eating. Perhaps ideally, it would be better to have all the
food you planned to eat sitting in front of you before you even eat to
get the mental image of how much there really is.

I don't actually do that, but I do make a menu the day before and list
everything I intend to eat the next day. That seems to do the same
thing, and I can't conveniently "forget" and eat something extra. If
it ain't on the list, I can't eat it, and when I've eating everything
on my menu list, I'm finished for the day. Occasionally, I'm finished
by 4 pm in the afternoon if I get up early, but I still don't eat
another thing before retiring at 10 pm or so. No open-ended eating
allowed in other words. This works for me at least. dkw

On Apr 2, 2:12 pm, " wrote:
I caught just a portion of a news program about (over)eating, where
they made popcorn, then let it go stale, but served it at a movie
theater. Apparently, some people ate all the popcorn anyway and some
of those didn't even seem to notice it was stale. On the street when
they asked people to taste this same stale popcorn, almost everyone
said it wasn't good though and they didn't want any of it. The
conclusion was that you shouldn't eat and do some other activity like
watching TV, cause you tend to just eat because it's there and perhaps
you associate a movie or TV and popcorn (or chips or whatever).

Another possibility is that you tune out the eating and eat without
even thinking about it because it is there. Some people seem to do
better without having food, especially high-cal foods around the
house.

Another overeating program on TV several months ago had to do with
eating where you could see the empty plate. In the experiment they
ran, there were chicken bones and the dirty plates left on the table.
Contrasted to this, they served the same chicken, but as people would
finish their serving of chicken, somone would remove the bones. There
were always new, clean empty plates (like a buffet) left on the table.
Those people apparently would keep eating and in the end they ate more
than those who saw the evidence of what they had eaten in front of
them. Out of sight, out of mind might be the moral here, and it might
explain how people eat more while involved in some other activity like
watching a movie. Perhaps that hand goes to autopilot and they just
keep reaching into the bag without thinking even if they like what
they're eating. Perhaps ideally, it would be better to have all the
food you planned to eat sitting in front of you before you even eat to
get the mental image of how much there really is.

I don't actually do that, but I do make a menu the day before and list
everything I intend to eat the next day. That seems to do the same
thing, and I can't conveniently "forget" and eat something extra. If
it ain't on the list, I can't eat it, and when I've eating everything
on my menu list, I'm finished for the day. Occasionally, I'm finished
by 4 pm in the afternoon if I get up early, but I still don't eat
another thing before retiring at 10 pm or so. No open-ended eating
allowed in other words. This works for me at least. dkw

I also know that "social eating" is rather competitive, by virtue of
evolutionary instinct. When you have a communal source of food, like
chinese, pizza, or a shared popcorn at the movies, the more you eat,
the more you get. So you pound the stuff away just so you can eat
more of it.

It never fails to amaze me how much of the problem boils down to
psychology, but it also comforts me that it's a problem caused mostly
by malformed thought than a physical disorder, so it's 'easy' to fix.

On Apr 2, 12:06*pm, James G wrote:
On Apr 2, 2:12 pm, " wrote:





I caught just a portion of a news program about (over)eating, where
they made popcorn, then let it go stale, but served it at a movie
theater. Apparently, some people ate all the popcorn anyway and some
of those didn't even seem to notice it was stale. On the street when
they asked people to taste this same stale popcorn, almost everyone
said it wasn't good though and they didn't want any of it. The
conclusion was that you shouldn't eat and do some other activity like
watching TV, cause you tend to just eat because it's there and perhaps
you associate a movie or TV and popcorn (or chips or whatever).

Another possibility is that you tune out the eating and eat without
even thinking about it because it is there. Some people seem to do
better without having food, especially high-cal foods around the
house.

Another overeating program on TV several months ago had to do with
eating where you could see the empty plate. In the experiment they
ran, there were chicken bones and the dirty plates left on the table.
Contrasted to this, they served the same chicken, but as people would
finish their serving of chicken, somone would remove the bones. There
were always new, clean empty plates (like a buffet) left on the table.
Those people apparently would keep eating and in the end they ate more
than those who saw the evidence of what they had eaten in front of
them. Out of sight, out of mind might be the moral here, and it might
explain how people eat more while involved in some other activity like
watching a movie. Perhaps that hand goes to autopilot and they just
keep reaching into the bag without thinking even if they like what
they're eating. Perhaps ideally, it would be better to have all the
food you planned to eat sitting in front of you before you even eat to
get the mental image of how much there really is.

I don't actually do that, but I do make a menu the day before and list
everything I intend to eat the next day. That seems to do the same
thing, and I can't conveniently "forget" and eat something extra. If
it ain't on the list, I can't eat it, and when I've eating everything
on my menu list, I'm finished for the day. Occasionally, I'm finished
by 4 pm in the afternoon if I get up early, but I still don't eat
another thing before retiring at 10 pm or so. No open-ended eating
allowed in other words. This works for me at least. dkw

I also know that "social eating" is rather competitive, by virtue of
evolutionary instinct. *When you have a communal source of food, like
chinese, pizza, or a shared popcorn at the movies, the more you eat,
the more you get. *So you pound the stuff away just so you can eat
more of it.

It never fails to amaze me how much of the problem boils down to
psychology, but it also comforts me that it's a problem caused mostly
by malformed thought than a physical disorder, so it's 'easy' to fix.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


Warning: another reference to oats coming up!

I think that's right. For my daughter's birthday party last year, I
ordered 2 large pizzas. As it turned out, it was apparent to the
guests that that might not be enough, so they almost all took two
pieces and a couple of girls wanted more. I ran out. The next year. I
had lots of cake and ice cream, so of course nobody ate much of that.
This year, I remembered the pizza shortage...same place, same girls
for the most part, but 4 large pizzas this time. Guess what? Nobody
ate much pizza and I couldn't even give it away. This works with the
stock market as well. Greed is a part of human nature like you said.
Wi has this all figured out. They dole out their sets so there is
always a shortage. This increases sales and also assures full-priced
sales.

You might think since I always have tons of oats around, I might just
stop eating them...well, the analogy doesn't include oats. I always
eat 7 servings a day. dkw

On Apr 2, 3:34*pm, " wrote:
This year, I remembered the pizza shortage...same place, same girls
for the most part, but 4 large pizzas this time. Guess what? Nobody
ate much pizza and I couldn't even give it away.

Solution: order two pizzas, and ask for two empty boxes, which are
then stacked beneath the full ones.

On Apr 3, 2:01*am, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
On Apr 2, 3:34*pm, " wrote:

This year, I remembered the pizza shortage...same place, same girls
for the most part, but 4 large pizzas this time. Guess what? Nobody
ate much pizza and I couldn't even give it away.

Solution: order two pizzas, and ask for two empty boxes, which are
then stacked beneath the full ones.

Great idea provided you don't get caught, but if you try to trick 12-
year-old girls, and they catch you, there's hell to pay. They'll
remember your deception and bring it up to you for the rest of your
life. dkw