Small changes in the environment to help you easily stick to good habits. It does not matter, there is a speech about any area of life. Below you will find tips that will help you start to eat right. But the principle that underlies all of these strategies can be used to acquire, and other healthy habits or give up bad.
1. Eat from small plates
The larger the dish, the large portions. Therefore, you, too, will eat more. As a result of research Vansinka Brian (Brian Wansink) and a group of psychologists, it was found that if you use a plate diameter of 25 cm and 30 cm are not, then the year will eat 22% less food.
By reading this you are probably thinking, "I can just impose less on a large plate." But things are not so simple. And the illustration below clearly shows why. When you eat a small portion of a large plate, it will seem that you have eaten enough, and will therefore think that not gorged. But it is necessary to replace the plate, and after the meal you feel satiated. Circles in the picture below - the same, but your brain (and stomach) does not recognize them as such.
2. Keep the water at hand
When you're busy with something, often without thinking, you drink a glass of soda or coffee to quench their thirst. But try to always carry a bottle of plain water. For example, put it on the desk at work. When the water is always at hand, you will be more likely to drink it than not very useful drinks.
3. Use high narrow glasses instead of short and wide
If you want to drink less alcohol or soda, use a high narrow glasses. Look at the picture. What do you think, what line is longer - vertical or horizontal?
In fact, the two lines of the same length. But our brain tends to overestimate the vertical lines. In other words, we will seem to be in a tall glass drink more than wide. Therefore, you will drink less of the high narrow glass. Studies confirm that from a tall glass people drink 20% less than that of the broad.
4. Use plates whose color contrasts strongly with food
When the color matches the color of the plates of food on the machine you will apply yourself more, because your brain is more difficult to distinguish the portion of the plate. For this reason it is preferable to use plates of blue and green colors: they contrast sharply with pasta or potatoes (which means you put them less), but almost no contrast with the greens and vegetables (most likely, you put them more).
5. Keep healthy foods in a prominent place
For example, put a cup of fruit or nuts on a shelf near the front door or in the place where you are sure to pass before leaving home. When you're hungry and in a hurry, you usually grab the first thing that podvernotsya arm. Let this be a useful snack.
6. Keep junk food in foil
A useful products are best kept in a transparent container. The old adage "Out of sight, out of mind" is the truth. Often, the brain determines what he wants to eat, based on what the eyes see. Thus, if the harmful products will be stored in closed and in places that you look rarely less likely that you will want to eat them.
7. Healthy foods add up to big containers and packaging, and harmful - to small
Large boxes and containers constantly catch the eye and take up space in the kitchen. The essence of the advice is simple: you notice the container and is likely to eat what is in it. Small as jars and boxes may be hiding in the kitchen for a few months. Just look at what your kitchen is idle for a long time: most likely, it's something in small packages.
And further advice. If you buy a big box of some harmful food packagi its contents in the small containers and bags with zip-Locke. So it will be easier to control portion size and do not eat too much at once.
8. Remember the rule, "half plates"
When you cast their dinner, do so on one side dishes were vegetables or fruit. The second half should take a rest.
9. To the store to buy only healthy food, use the rule "outer ring"
The essence of the strategy is simple: when you come to the supermarket, do not aimlessly wander the aisles. You go around the outer perimeter of the store. There are usually placed healthy food: fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, dairy products. So you buy healthy foods, then, and eat right.
How to modify the environment to develop other areas of life
When you try to use these strategies, you will see that their principle of operation is reduced to a simple rule: we add extra steps to each other and unwanted behavior, and between them and good habit We get rid of the intermediate steps.
For example:
- When we keep junk food in the foil, we add one more step: to see the dish have to deploy the foil, see what's there and decide if there is or not. When we store useful products in transparent packaging, we can see what's inside, and immediately proceed to the final step: decide to eat or not eat.
- The use of small plates adds one more step between you and the habit to eat much. If you want to eat more, you will have more time to go into the kitchen and filled a bowl.
This approach can also be applied in other areas of life. If you want to get rid of some habits, increase the number of intermediate steps between you and the undesirable behavior.
Conversely, if you want to get a useful habit, reduce the number of steps between her and you. For example, if you want to run in the mornings, evenings cook with shoes and clothing. So between you and your workout is one step less.