Mindless Eating

Mindless Eating, by Brian Wansink, Ph.D; Bantam Publishing, 2010

Reviewed by Tina Lakenes

Ah...it's a New Year, and many of us are making resolutions for weight loss--again. If you are seriously trying, I recommend Dr. Wansink's book Mindless Eating. This is not so much a diet book, but a book that offers suggestions for being more mindful of what you are eating. Nutritional science and marketing professor Wansink explores some of the psychological aspects of overeating to explain why we in fact consume more than we believe we do. The author finds the greatest value in retraining one's mind and its perceptions by devices such as making sure one's plate contains at least half vegetables or salad. He suggests that a dieter will automatically eat less in social situations by being the last to start eating and the first to finish. He assesses the dangers of food shopping in bulk-portion stores, where shoppers are encouraged to overindulge. For a change of pace, try The Girl Who Played with Fire, the late Stieg Larsson's intriguing sequel to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". This story deals with Sweden's sex slave trade, and explains more about the main character's tragic childhood, and the ongoing search for her as a murder suspect. For a romantic departure, try HRH, by Danielle Steele. Princess Christinna meets and falls in love with an American doctor while volunteering for the Red Cross in East Africa. Trouble ensues when she is not allowed to marry him--a commoner.