Blame Your Fork
Research has shown that people eat more when the serving container is bigger. In fact, today’s salad fork is the size of a dinner fork from the mid-eighties, and serving spoons are taking on shovel-like dimensions.
Brain Wansink, director of the Food and Brand Lab at the University of Illinios, led a research study where researchers sent participants home with a half pound, a one pound or a two pound bag of M&Ms. Those with the half pound bag ate an average of 63 M&Ms, while those with the one poind bag averaged 120 M&MS! The larger the bag, the more the person ate.
The same principle applies to the size of our eating utensils, plates and glasses. So make life a little easier for yourself. Buy smaller utensils, plates and wine glasses and notice how much more civilized your dining experience can be!
P.S. If anyone identifies a good source of small scale flatware, etc., let me know. I’d like to place a shopping link on my site!
Glenna said,
September 25, 2007 @ 5:55 pm
Hi Renee,
Thankyou for sharing. I had heard about smaller plates but not about the forks and spoons. A good point I think.
Glenna
Jame said,
December 26, 2007 @ 10:55 am
Try searching for “Japanese dinnerware” on the Internet, or visit a local Asian grocery store. I have noticed that they always have a unique selection of really beautiful plates and bowls in a wide variety of sizes - some smaller than you’d find elsewhere.
Jane said,
December 26, 2007 @ 11:20 am
Oops - first of all, apparently I can’t type my name !! No big deal ..
Secondly, I can’t believe I didn’t think of this til now, since I just recommended a Japanese market … but …
CHOPSTICKS !!
That’ll slow you down and make you take small bites !
Viannah said,
January 20, 2008 @ 7:50 pm
If you don’t want to learn to use a new set of utensils (LOL) you can look for “butter knife,” “demitasse spoon,” “cocktail/dessert fork,” “salad plate,” and “grapefruit bowl”–all of which are smaller than the “regular” tableware.
I’ve found that using smaller tableware really helps curb how much I eat because (for example) my plate fills up a lot faster! It’s hard with other people in the house, though, because they tend to look at me funny when they find out I don’t have “regular” plates in my cupboards… *sigh*