I wish this book had been more about the psychology of eating and less just another diet book. The parts that were more pop psych I really enjoyed, but the advice seemed just to present variations on a theme already well-trodden, and perpetuated who knows how many ugly stereotypes. Anyhow…

I recently finished listening to the audiobook of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. It’s a pretty fascinating read, and for me the take-home message was that education isn’t enough. Knowing that you’ll tend to eat more food if it is served to you on a large plate isn’t enough to stop you from eating more when food is served to you on a large plate. You need to go out and buy some smaller plates.

The second thing that I found interesting was the idea of “mindless margins”. By trimming a reasonably small number of calories (100-300) from their diet, the average person will lose in the range of 1 – 3 pounds each month – not setting any records for weight loss, but achieving it in a relatively painless and sustainable way.