dining companions

Did You Eat Too Much? Blame Your Buddies At The Table

September 12, 2013 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

How many people do you usually sit with when you’re eating? Not all the people surrounding you in a cafeteria or restaurant, but the number of friends or family at your table?

Amazingly, the number of people you eat with can make a big difference in how much you end up eating. If you have eight people at your table you might end up eating 96% more than if you ate alone!

That’s not to say that you should limit the number of friends you eat with—it should just make you aware that friends, unintentionally, can influence how much and how fast you eat.

How Come?

You tend to eat for a longer amount of time — and eat more — when you’re with people you like compared to when you eat alone. It could be because you mindlessly nibble while someone else talks, or you’re using the good manners you were taught in fifth grade about not letting someone else eat alone, or maybe you’re just having fun and enjoying your food. Whatever the reason, most of us tend to stay at the table longer when we’re with others –and– the longer you stay at the table, the more you eat.

We also tend to mimic the other people at the table. It’s almost as though how much you eat and how fast you eat is contagious. If your friends eat fast, you eat fast. If they eat a lot, you eat a lot.

Friends and family influence how much we eat, too. Sometimes you get so involved in conversation that all monitoring of what you pop into your mouth goes out the window. Have you ever looked down at your plate and wondered where all the cookies went or how you managed to work your way through the mile high dish of pasta or the four pieces of pizza? How many tastes did you take of everyone else’s meal and dessert? Those tastes aren’t like invisible ink. Those calories count, too.

How Much More Do We Eat When We’re With Others?

In his book, Mindless Eating, Brian Wansink, PhD reports on a study that shows how strong the tendency is to increase how much you eat when you eat with others. Compared to eating alone, you eat, on average:

35% more if you eat with one other person
75% more with four at the table
96% more with a group of seven or more

What’s The Reason?

It’s a common pattern for adults to eat more when they’re in larger groups than when they’re eating alone. One reason is a phenomenon called “social facilitation,” or the actions or behaviors that result from the sight and sound of other people doing the same thing that you’re doing. When you’re eating in groups, social facilitation can help override your brain’s normal signals of satiety.

What You Can Do

Think about who you’re eating with – and why. If you want to have a blast and don’t care about how much you eat – eat with a big group and chow down.
If you want to be careful about what and how much you eat, think about eating lunch with your salad (dressing on the side, please) friends rather than the pepperoni pizza group.
Without even thinking about it, you tend to adjust your eating pace to that of your companions. So, sit next to the slow eaters rather than the gobblers if you’re trying to control how much goes into your mouth.

Want more tips — especially if you eat in dining halls of any kind? Get my new book, now available on Amazon — 30 Ways to Survive Dining Hall and Dorm Room Food: Tips to Avoid the Freshman 15.

9 Easy Ways To Eat Less

November 17, 2011 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

As the holiday season goes into full swing, here’s some helpful tips:

Fill your plate once, whether it’s from a buffet or just from the stove top. That’s it. No seconds – and double-decking isn’t such a great idea, either.
Use the smallest plates, bowls, and glasses you can to help you feel full even when you’re eating less. The smaller the plate the less food that can go on it. You probably won’t even know the difference because your eyes and brain are registering full plate. According to the CDC, a study looked at how adults reacted to four different portion sizes of macaroni and cheese given to them on different days. The larger the portion, the more people ate, eating 30% more when they were given the largest portion compared to the smallest one, yet they ranked their hunger and fullness similarly after both meals. Only 45% noticed that there were differences in the size of the portions they were served. The same optical illusion applies to glasses. Choose taller ones instead of shorter fat ones to help cut down on liquid calories.
Keep the serving bowls off of the table. Put food on your plate and then sit down to eat it. Serve reasonable portions on individual plates instead of helping yourself out of bowls on the table. According to an article in the May 2011 Nutrition Action Healthletter, when serving dishes are left on the table men eat 29% more and women 10% more than if those serving dishes stay on the counter.
Leftovers lead to overeating so make only what you need. If you do cook enough for multiple meals pack up the extras and put them away immediately. Avoid eating the little bits of leftovers in the pots – those calories really add up – as do all of those tastes while you’re cooking and preparing. Do enough nibbling and tasting and you come close to eating two meals.
Distractions equal mindless eating. Excess calories and the size of the package your food comes in influence how much you eat. The larger the package, the more you tend to eat from it. If you have a bag of chips in your lap as you watch TV or surf the net you don’t even realize how much you’re eating – and, in many cases, don’t gauge whether you’re full of not – so you keep eating. If you do watch TV or work at the computer while you’re eating, don’t eat straight from the package. Divide up the contents of one large package into several smaller portions. Put it in a bowl or on a plate.
Don’t eat off of your kid’s plate, your spouse’s plate, or your friend’s plate. The calories from someone else’s plate still count – and are oh so easy to forget about.
Hide the stuff that tempts you. Out of sight, out of mind is really true. We all tend to eat more when it’s right in front of us. Food we like triggers cravings and eating. So, keep the veggies in the front of the fridge and the rice pudding in the back. Get rid of the candy dish and the stash of pop tarts in your desk drawer. If you buy jumbo size packages, put the excess somewhere inconvenient so you’ll have to work to get at it.
Don’t feel obliged to eat out of courtesy – even if you don’t want the food or you’re full – just because you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings. Get over it – the calories are going into your mouth, not theirs. If someone really hounds you about trying something you can always claim an allergy or that you’re eating heart healthy (claiming an upset stomach might buy you an early exit or other guests avoiding you like the plague).
Pick your dining companions carefully. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine seems to indicate that if you’re struggling with your weight, there is a good chance that your friends and family are, too. You also tend to mimic your table companions. If they eat fast, you eat fast – if they eat a lot, you eat a lot. In his book, Mindless Eating, Brian Wansink, PhD cites a study that shows how strong the tendency is to increase the amount you eat when you eat with others. Compared to eating alone, you eat on average:

35% more if you eat with one other person
75% more with four at the table
96% more with a group of seven or more.

Table For 8? You Might Eat 96% More!

July 9, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

No kidding. You tend to eat for a longer amount of time — and eat more — when you’re with people you like compared to when you eat alone. It could be because you mindlessly nibble while someone else talks, you’re using the good manners you were taught in fifth grade about not letting someone else eat alone, or you’re just having fun and enjoying your food. Most of us tend to stay at the table longer when we’re with others. Bottom line: The longer you stay at the table, the more you eat.

Losing Track

Here’s the other thing: friends and family influence what you eat. Sometimes, it’s so easy to get involved with the conversation (or argument) that all the monitoring of what goes into your mouth goes out the window. Look down at your plate. Did you ever wonder where all the cookies went or how you managed to work your way through the mile high dish of pasta or the four pieces of pizza? How many tastes did you take of everyone else’s meal and dessert? Those tastes aren’t like invisible ink. Those calories count, too.

Who Sets the Pace?

You tend to mimic your table companions. They eat fast, you eat fast. They eat a lot, you eat a lot. Ever wonder why you look at some families or couples and they’re both either heavy or slender? As Brian Wansink, PhD says in his book, Mindless Eating, “birds of a feather eat together.”

96% More

Wansink reports on a study that shows how strong the tendency is to increase the amount that you eat when you eat with others. Compared to eating alone, you eat, on average:

35% more if you eat with one other person

75% more with four at the table

96% more with a group of seven or more.

SocialDieter Tip:

Think about who you are eating with – and why you’re eating with them. If you want to have a blast and don’t care about how much you eat – eat with a big group and chow down. But, if you want to be careful about what and how much you eat, think about eating lunch with a salad (dressing on the side, please) friend rather than the large pepperoni pizza group. Remember, without thinking about it, you tend to adjust your eating pace to that of your companions. So, sit next to the slow eaters rather than the gobblers if you are trying to control how much goes into your mouth.