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Fruit bowl
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A fruit bowl (or fruit basket) is an essential part of every eating environment...and every weight loss tool box.
Want to improve your nutrition? Trying to lose weight? Set out an appealing fresh fruit display on your kitchen counter.
In sight, in mind.
The truth is, we're triggered to eat by the sight of food. So it just makes sense to put in clear view the food you should be eating.
I've had a fruit basket on my counter for years. I'm proud to say that basket set the example for my mother to do the same. (Imagine that...the child was right!) After ~6 years of visiting from Texas, she finally realized...
"I eat more fruit when I visit you."
That's because the fruit is always there. On the counter. Practically asking to be eaten.
Once she made the connection, Mom bagan shopping like a mad woman for "the perfect" fruit bowl.
In my opinion...
The perfect fruit bowl is the one that's kept where you spend your time...
...at the office, at home, etc.
Try taking 5-10 pieces of fruit to the office on Monday morning and putting them in your "work" fruit basket for the week. You'll have 1-2 pieces/day available to you, and you won't have to remember to pack them every morning.
Also, consider the possibility of multiple fruit locations in your home. I have two...
...one on the kitchen counter and one on the kitchen table. I can see fruit from every angle in the room. Plus, I have to pass the bowls on the way to the refrigerator. Or the pantry. That helps me remember...
"Hey, I could just eat some fruit!"
In fact, here's a motto you might want to adopt:
between me
and my junk food.
Now you probably know it's important to eat more fruit.
...whether weight loss is your goal or simply eating healthier. But have you ever thought about why you don't do what you know you should do?
In my experience as a dietitian, I've witnessed how the environment influences food choices. There's even research in this area! The research suggests that effort (required to attain and prepare food) is a tremendous factor in what a person chooses to eat.
- More effort = less likely to eat (ex: cooking a meal from scratch)
- Less effort = more likely to eat (ex: easy access to fruit)
Make sense?
Now put out a fruit bowl and get moving toward better nutrition and weight loss!
More of My Professional Advice You May Find Useful
What to put in your fruit bowl
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