Need to Avoid Temptation? A Simple Solution! (+ How to Get Husbands to Eat Leftovers)
One of the most interesting studies in Slim by Design, was how to handle leftovers and storage of food.
“If there's an in-home food that's your Kryptonite,” Wansink says, “the best thing you can do is make it as inconvenient and unattractive as warm Pepsi. Even wrapping up a tempting food in aluminum foil can do that.”
Wansink recommends wrapping healthy foods in plastic wrap, or putting them in clear containers—especially with clear tops so you can see it, and to put unhealthy foods in foil, or in containers with dark colored tops.
As soon as I read this chapter, I ran out and bought new tupperware. We had a real problem in our house, namely, that my husband was not good about eating leftovers or food I'd already prepared.
With the meal plans, you can make all your meals for the week ahead and do a quick reheat if you want before eating. I've been faithfully doing this for more than a year, and it has made all the difference in my waistline and stress levels. I LOVE IT! I spend a few hours while doing laundry and catching up on my shows, then store everything in the fridge to eat all week long.
But my husband was always skipping over the food I made and eating a can of beans, or bread and hummus, or some veggies and fruits, which annoyed and frustrated me. I mean, I spent all that time making these meals! And often they were ones HE requested!
“I always forget you made stuff, sorry!” he'd apologize.
After reading Wansink's research, I wondered if my containers, which had a maroon top you couldn't see through, were the problem.
They were.
As soon as I put the food in totally clear containers, and put them front and center in the fridge (he would literally have to push past them and move them over to get to the hummus, jams, and bread!) he started eating the leftovers and precooked foods right up!
I'd even sometimes hear him going “Yess!” excited to “find” one of the options I'd made from the meal plans earlier in the week. It was a HUGE change for us and I started saving even more money on food! Plus I was glad my husband went off his bread and hummus diet ;)