Table of Contents from the Book Mindless Eating

Introduction: The Science of Snacking     1

1. The Mindless Margin     15

Stale Popcorn and Frail Willpower

As Fine as North Dakota Wine

The Dieter's Dilemma

The Mindless Margin

2. The Forgotten Food     36

The Prison Pounds Mystery

We Believe Our Eyes, Not Our Stomach

Eye It, Dish It, Eat It

The Bottomless Soup Bowl

People-Size or Meal-Size?

3. Surveying the Tablescape     57

King-Size Packages and the Power of Norms

Drinking Glass Illusions

Big Plates, Big Spoons, Big Servings

The Super Bowl Intelligentsia

The Temptation of Variety

The Hidden Persuaders Around Us     77

The See-Food Trap

Convenience: Would You Walk a Mile for a Caramel?

The Curse of the Warehouse Club

Mindless Eating Scripts     94

Family, Friends, and Fat

Eating Scripts of the Manly Man

All-You-Can-Eat Television

Slow Italian and Fast Chinese

Follow Your Nose

Check the Weather Forecast

The Name Game     118

Eating in the Dark

They Call the Jell-O Yellow

Menu Magic

Brand-Name Psychosis

So Sweetbreads Taste Like Coffee Cake?

In the Mood for Comfort Food     139

Comfort Foods and Comfort Moods

The Conditioning of Comfort

Fifty Years from the Front

Do You Save the Best for Last?

Nutritional Gatekeepers     162

The Nutritional Gatekeeper and the Good Cook Next Door

Food Inheritance: Like Mother, Like Daughter

Food Conditioning and the Popeye Project

Setting Servings-Size Habits for Life

Fast-Food Fever     180

The Variety and Convenience of Having It Our Way

The McSubway Study and Information Illusions

Do Low-Fat Labels Make Us Fat?

Health Halos and Nutrition Labels

What Serving Size?

De-Marketing Obesity and De-Supersizing

21st century Marketing

Mindlessly Eating Better     208

The Modest Goal of Better Eating

Reengineering Your Mindless Margin

The Power of Three

The Tyranny of the Moment

The First Step Toward Home

 

Appendix A: Comparing Popular Diets     221

Appendix B: De-Fusing Your Diet Danger Zones     225

Paperback Postscript: Frequently asked Questions     235

Notes     251

Acknowledgments     282

Index     285