Reddit reviews Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think

I really enjoyed Mindless Eating, by Dr. Brian Wansink. I learned about it from my Weight Watchers leader and it was eye opening. It's very scientific and detailed but also informative and easy to read. It helped me realize where my extra calories were going when I conveniently forgot to track them.

Congrats on making a positive change and seeing good results!

As others have said, engaging your senses and mind in the cooking process makes more of a "complete story" for the parts of your brain that feel satisfied - you choose foods, prepare them, anticipate them, and finally get to enjoy them. (Similarly, pet experts recommend exercising pets before feeding them, so they get the same type of anticipatory buildup before eating, and feel more satisfied after)

I recommend that you read Mindless Eating to learn more ways to subtly adjust your appetite, cravings, and satisfaction as you continue to prepare food and try to get to a better body comp that works for you. It can be as simple as leaving the bones on your plate after eating wings to help your brain know that it should be full.

A couple tips as someone who changed lifestyles and eating habits to drop some weight: if you can work in a moderate but sustainable exercise/activity increase (ex. walking 20 min or 10 min elliptical 3x a week), it will help food you cook to be even more satisfying, and don't get discouraged when your weight loss slows a bit. It's common to have a lot of weight loss up front, then it levels out, or even stops a bit. What's important is that you're sustaining a net drop over time, and a bit of weight gained can mean you're putting on some muscle if you're exercising. If you can keep up healthier habits over years, it will be easier to keep that going over a longer term so you don't yo-yo back.

Keep at it, and keep exploring and loving food!