Tricking my eyes....
 

Does anyone else do this???


I have found that if I can make my food LOOK bigger :mag:, then my brain somehow thinks it's bigger and I feel fuller....

For instance. I typically have 2 eggs for breakfast. I used to do them scrambled and it just looked like a tiny amount to me. So, I've started doing them over easy (break the yolks). I cook them in a pan with the bottom slightly greased with EVOO. I put the eggs in, break the yolks and then spread the egg and yolk as much as I can in the pan. This makes it look like a HUGE amount - and I feel more satisfied after I eat that, than if I make them scrambled.... it's a kind of neat trick.

So, if I make anything in the oven, like lasagna.... instead of piling it up HIGH, I use a bigger pan and spread it out more.... so I can cut myself a BIGGER piece..... does this make sense??? It's like I'm tricking myself into thinking I'm eating huge portions, when really - it's the same portion sizes that I should be eating - just spread out more....

Anyway, I just wanted to share this....
I have been faithful to doing things this way all this week, and I haven't had to use any of my extra WW points for the week.... which is a goal I'm trying ot adhere to.....

OMG I do the same thing! Fool the mind and you'll fool the belly too! I used to eat homemade wraps but now instead of rolling up the tortilla I lay everything out flat. It's so much more filling now. Figure we're probably eating slower this way so it's filling us up faster on the same amount of food!

I use small plates sometimes instead of large ones. Then I can still finish the plate, but eat just the right amount :)

I've just been reading "Mindless Eating" which goes over this whole volume issue. It's like the trick they do where the same amount of liquid is in a tall glass or a short wide glass. It looks like more liquid in the tall glass.

The opposite is true of food on the plate- not as tall, but spread out looks like more. I noticed Lean Cuisine does this with their lasagna too. It's a very enlightening book. There are any number of tricks we can play on ourselves and it goes both ways.

Ok now I'm intrigued! I do the smaller plate thing and when I make something like my crockpot mac n' cheese I measure out my 1 cup serving and spread it out so it looks like it fills the plate. I didn't realize that I was tricking myself into thinking that it was a lot of macaroni cuz I know it's not but I do feel satisfied after I eat it as opposed to the huge plate I used to eat of it!

Glad there are more of you like me out there!!! :crazy:

That's amazing that you mentioned that. When I drink my cup of milk everyday, I put it in a short stubby glass, because it fills the cup up, and to me - it feels like I'm getting more.....even though I KNOW it's the same amount even if I put it in a HUGE glass, it just FEELS like more because the glass is full...I'm sure if I had a tall skinny glass, I'd use that, because then my eyes would see a TALL glass FILLED with milk.... oye my head hurts from trying to wrap my brain around this phenomenon! lol :fr:

All of us weirdos on one site..... lolol... I'm just kidding! :chin: