02/08/2010
Beware the office feeder
by Laura Nineham
The 'office feeder' could be your biggest dieting liability, according to The Daily Mail.
A study has looked into the effects of 'office feeders' finding that they were the biggest risk to those on diets.
The Daily Mail cites studies conducted by professor Brian Wansink, an eating behaviourist at Cornell University. He found that female secretaries ate 5.6 times more chocolates if they were placed on a nearby desk than if they had to walk two metres to pick one up. Another study found that office workers sat near glass dishes filled with sweets ate 71% more, the equivalent of 77 calories, than those who were sat near white, opaque dishes.
Wansink explained that women are more likely to be influenced by the diet patterns of co-workers than men. "When we put two women together, regardless of whether they are friends or not, they end up mimicking the eating habits of the other person," he said.
One dieter, Claire Hill, told The Daily Mail that she had been dieting for seven months and the office feeder has been her biggest dieting liability. She said that every morning her colleague has placed freshly-baked croissants on a desk in the open-plan office.
"She watches to see who is having one and harangues you until you pick one up," said Claire. "At 11 am, she brings out biscuits or butter shortbread, yet she never touches a crumb herself."
Susan Ringwood, chief executive of eating disorders charity Beat, said that office feeders often encourage people to consume food "because it reinforces their own sense of mastery and self will, and they feel good about avoiding calories when someone else is consuming them in front of their eyes".
Weight loss hypnotherapy is one method that will help you slim without relying on will power. Your mind will be trained to believe you feel fuller, much sooner, and your appetite will be suppressed. This kind of approach to weight loss which changes your behaviour will help you fight off the office feeder much more successfully.
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