According to researchers with the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, just looking at food really is making me fat. Well, I may still have the ultimate control over what goes into my mouth. But their researchers found in a recent study that the sight of food can stimulate one’s appetite.
I’ve suspected this for years. I have the urge to snack after watching television commercials that show delicious foods. I have to minimize any pop-up ads that show cupcakes or doughnuts while working on my computer to lose weight.
With the way some food is presented in such an alluring way, I feel almost hypnotized to eat more and more and more.
I’ve even noticed that I want to eat more after reading a magazine with illustrated recipes or photographs of the sweet treats and junk foods you should not eat.
The study was conducted on men. They documented how the amount of ghrelin, the hormone that regulates appetite, increased as the men viewed food images.
Previous studies have shown people tend to eat more food out of clear or glass serving bowls because they can see the food.
Experts say you should make sure food is never within easy reach. Put junk food on high shelves. Tape shut the potato chip bag, and then hide the bag in a solid as opposed to see-through container.
I was able to lose 25 pounds in the past six months by watching fewer hours of television and putting temping treats out of sight.
Although I’ve tried many different diets in the past few years, keeping tempting food out of sight makes it easier to stick to whatever diet I’m on.
When I do watch television, I make sure I’m on the elliptical machine.
I’ve read psychological studies in the past that have shown people tend to eat more when they are with more people. Now I speculate the reason they eat more may have something to do with the fact that they are seeing so many different appetizing dishes.
When I find my size 4 clothes are getting too tight, I turn off the television for a few days. I also have to tell my husband to eat his hamburger and French fries on his own time, unless he wants a lot more of me to love.
Laura Cone is a “professional dieter” who blogs about her dieting experiments at Five Days on a Diet blog.
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