This is part of Lifehackersbook reviewseries.
The tips are all based on food psychology research, most of it from Wansinks own lab at Cornell.
You know Wansinks research even if you dont recognize his name.
He wrote an earlier book about this research,Mindless Eating.
He presents 100-calorie packs (his invention, he claims) as an example of this.
Wansink gleefully told food company execs that people willpay moretoeat less, and he turned out to be right.
On the other hand, 100-calorie packs are kind of irritating and Id rather not overpay for my food.
(Wansink suggests a solution, of course: buy the big bag and repackage it yourself.)
The book is written as a guide to taking advantage of food psychology research.
In other words, youredesigningyour environment to make (or keep) youslim.
Willpower is hard and has to last a lifetime.
Rearranging your life to be slim by design is easy.
The book doesnt stop at fixing your kitchen and office, though.
Some people will find his style irritating, so consider yourself warned.
I read it more as awkward dad humor, and find it whimsically dorky.
If a place scores low, maybe you shouldnt visit there as often.
The last chapter is packed full of tips for using the other chapters tips.
(Yo dawg, we heard you like tips.)
Pick one thing to change in each place.
Wansink stresses that trying to change everything at once is pretty much guaranteed to backfire.
Ask your favorite food places to help, through social media and snail-mail letters (examples provided).
Tweet the heck out of it, basically.
This isnt just one tip, but really a constellation of them.
Cover all your healthy leftovers in plastic and the unhealthy ones in foil.
Put those baggies on the most visible shelf in the fridge.
Put the less healthy food in the sides and back of the fridge.
Also position healthy food front and center in your freezer, cabinets, and pantry.
I didnt think so.
Is it really fair to say that these design changes will make us slim?
Little to none of his research extends beyond what happens at a single meal or shopping trip.
This study, and others like it, tickled my bullshit detector.
And they reported on whatever things the skinny people did more.
But some of the results are probably flukes.
I spoke withRebecca Goldin, a statistician fromGeorge Mason Universityand director ofSTATS.org.
She shared my concern.
So take the tips with a grain of salt.
Even if it wasnt whatmadethose thin diners thin, its still good advice.
Weverecommended doing the same thing at farmers markets, for example.
With that caveat, I still think this is a good book.
This pragmatic approach is what makesSlim by Designso valuable: it takes human nature into account.
