There’s a conspiracy to trick you into eating more. Everything from
efficient busboys (cLear­ ing the table so you for­ get how much you’ve
eaten) to "family-size" bags of chips (making massive quantities seem
normal) goads us into stuffing our faces.

A recent Cornell University study found that nutritionists (!) who were
asked to serve themselves ice cream at a party with large bowls and
spoons dished out about 50 percent more than those given smaller bowls
and spoons. "Even super­ star experts get fooled," says Brian Wansink,
Ph.D., author of Mindless Eating. Fortunately, the illusion works both ways ….

• Use small bowls and spoons. Not
only will you serve yourself less food, you’ll eat less. Cornell
researchers also found that graduate students scarfed down 59 percent
more Chex Mix from large bowls than those who served them- . selves
from smaller bowls.

• Drink from a tall glass. Our
brains estimate height differently than width. Given drinking glasses
with the same capacity, we tend to pour more into a short, squat glass
than a tall, narrow one.

• Always, always skip the vq1ue size. Sure,
you get more for your money when you buy in bulk. But Wan sink has
found that people who are given larger boxes of pasta cook and eat more
of it than people given smaller boxes. Sacrifice the pennies; slim your
waist.