If you feel guilty about eating too much of junk food, then here is some news that should make you feel better.

Brian Wansink, author of “Mindless Eating” and head of Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab found that people tend to eat more when food is conveniently available.

In an experiment, Wansink placed candy jars of chocolate in office workers’ cubicles for a month. Then, he moved the candy six feet away. Simply having the candy closer meant the office workers ate five more candies a day.

This is probably the reason why people who work in plush offices with wonderful canteens tend to put on more weight, than those who do not have such luxuriant canteens.

According to Wansink, we can say no about 27 times, before we finally give into the temptation of junk food that might be sitting in front of us.

But that’s not all, because Wansink found that we tend to eat more of what food is easily available, so if a fruit is within our reach, but we really crave a nice lasagna, chances are that we will settle for the fruit, because it is ready-to-eat!

Other interesting facts that influence our eating are:

• “family style” with the serving bowls on the table.
• directly from the bag or carton.
• on a bigger plate or from a bigger container.
• in front of the television, in the car, with friends.

So, if you are trying to kick the habit of eating junk food, try keeping some healthy food handy. You could try some roasted crunchy nuts, some juicy fruits, and appetizing vegetables in a prominent and easy to locate place in your kitchen.

In other words, store your healthy food like you would store candy - if it works to stimulate your appetite for candy, it will surely help you eat more healthy foods.99217