Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life

by Brian Wansink

In Slim by Design, leading behavioral economist, food psychologist, and bestselling author Brian Wansink introduces groundbreaking solutions for designing our most common spaces—schools, restaurants, grocery stores, and home kitchens, among others—in order to make positive changes in how we approach and manage our diets.

Anyone familiar with Wansink’s Mindless Eating knows this is not a typical diet book. Wansink shares his scientific approach to eating, providing insight and information, so we can all make better choices when it comes to food.

The pioneer of the Small Plate Movement, Brian Wansink presents compelling research conducted at the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University by way of cartoons, drawings, charts, graphs, floor plans, and more. Slim by Design offers innovative ways to make healthy eating mindlessly easy.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Food, Psychology, Self Help, Nutrition, Audiobook

320 pages, Hardcover

First published March 19, 2013

About the author

Brian Wansink is an American professor in the fields of consumer behavior and nutritional science and is currently serving as the Executive Director of the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), which is charged with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines and with promoting the Food Guide Pyramid (MyPyramid).

Wansink is best known for his work on consumer behavior and food and for popularizing terms such as "mindless eating" and "health halos." His research has focused on how our immediate environment (supermarkets, packaging, homes, pantries, and tablescapes) influences eating habits and preferences. Wansink holds the John S. Dyson Endowed Chair in the Applied Economics and Management Department at Cornell University. He is the author of over 100 academic articles and books, including the best-selling book Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think and Marketing Nutrition (2005). He is a 2007 recipient of the humorous Ig Nobel Prize and was named ABC World News Person of the Week on January 4, 2008.

Reviews

[Dane · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author is very knowledgable and has some great tips for setting up your life to make losing weight an inevitability. Unfortunately, much of this book is written for either people who own restaurants or manage grocery stores, or the sort of person who doesn't mind contacting the people who do to ask them to rearrange their businesses. He does make it as easy as possible to do so, but still, I'd have preferred more strategies for re-arranging things I actually have control over.

[Emily Loomis Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a 5-star book in content but I had to knock off a star for the constant inference of “fat = unhealthy and slim = healthy.” If this could be re-written using terms like “healthy choices” and “avoiding mindless eating” (ironically the title of his other book, which I absolutely will be reading now), it would be 5-stars. That big negative aside, this is a fantastic book for easy, simple tips that unconsciously steer you towards a healthier lifestyle.

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to think about this book for awhile, since the solutions Wansink relates in "Slim by Design" will only really work if you are committed to improving your health, and your dysfunctional eating issues. But according to the studies he shows, they will work. I already knew about most of these ideas, but after spending time at a resort focused on healthy habits (eating well, exercising, mind/body practices), I was able to see some of these ideas in practice, and dammit, they were effective. We (the guests) were eating more mindfully, and making healthier choices because that's the kind of food that was already prepared and easily accessible. What a difference a practical experience can have on your mindset! So consider me convinced: I am planning to implement many of these ideas at home. Highly recommended.

[jen8998 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wansink recommends changing your environment to promote healthy eating. It's a great idea but I wish there was more attention devoted to arranging your home. He spends time on the workplace, school and restaurants- all places that could use change but that the reader probably doesn't have as much influence. Another criticism is that the suggestions are fairly familiar (e.g keeping fruit in bowls in plain sight and using smaller plates).

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book a little disappointing compared to Mindless Eating. I felt that there was constant repetition of ideas and that he was talking down to the reader. There were one or two useful tips but the rest of the book involved policy changes in grocery stores and restaurants. Here's the best tip: don't eat processed foods, that will make anyone thin!

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Brian Wansink's book, Mindless Eating, so I thought I'd give this a try. There were some good take-away ideas. I like reading about his studies most. I did end up checking it out from the library three or four times before I finally made it through, so it wasn't overly captivating. Or I keep checking out too many books at once.

[Tonya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Useless

This book is absurd. Most of it you already know and if you have issues with overeating then telling you to “sit further from the buffet” and “use a smaller plate” are insulting and don’t address the real issues with our broken food systems.

[Becca! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great ideas!

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on the little things that make people overeat and tips to stop eating mindlessly. Similar to his prior book, Mindless Eating, but with new ideas. This book is divided into five sections, based on the places you are most likely to eat or get food: your home, your office, restaurants, the grocery store and the school cafeteria. I skipped the cafeteria and I wasn't really that interested in the grocery store, but overall, it was an entertaining, informative and fascinating.

[Mary Lou · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a big fan of Wansink's "Mindless Eating." Unfortunately this seems like an attempt to repackage a lot of the same information. The new stuff, urging readers to contact restaurants, grocery stores, etc. and have them change their entire way of doing business, is unrealistic. I highly recommend "Mindless Eating" - if you've read that, you can skip "Slim By Design."

[A Page Elsewhere · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of studies done in restaurants and supermarkets as well as university cafeterias and people's house, on eating habits and lifestyles. Although the results were interesting, I found them very similar to those reported in the Mindless Eating. Plus, the kindle version of this book had a disorganized format.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. It's interesting to think how the things around us influence our decisions and the way we live. I haven't figured out what I want to do in my life to change things and outcomes, but I'm watching for the things I can do differently!

[Kim Birum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting insights into the life of a man losing his vision due to macular degeneration.

[Ange · Rating 1 out of 5]

**EDIT:** After learning more about the author, his unethical research tweaking, and his fall from grace (to put it nicely), I've dropped this down to 1 star.

He abused vague data to build the results he wanted and published many multiple papers off of the same data set (sketchy af). Most of his insights in this book are based on invalid research (meaning it's unknown if true or not) and some have been specifically disproven. Of the 150 or whatever papers he published, something like 84 were examined by a specific group of third-party universities/researchers and over 50 of those were shown to be based on faulty research or flat out made up. Sometimes the basic math didn't add up, or the numbers provided were important to obtain within the criteria.

Basically, the dude was widely discredited and everything in this book is questionable. Even things that seem obvious (eg, eating a lower calorie food is inherently better if all else is equal) turn out to be more complicated than assumed (ie, if the person knows it's lower calorie, they tend to eat more of the item, resulting in higher total caloric intake) when scrutinized by effective research conducted properly.

tldr: Don't read this. It's basically made up. In its place, I recommend "Diet Cults" or "Sugar Salt and Fat" (yes, that's the correct title; no, it's not the Netflix documentary one).


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Caveat: I'm struggling to get through this book, so I'm judging based off of only a couple chapters.

Calling this book painfully outdated is extremely generous; I'm adding a star because I think the author had good intentions and some of the advice included is legitimately backed by research.

So far as I am in the book, there are some seemingly good studies referenced, but the author often takes one study (sometimes of only a relatively small group) and presents it as concrete evidence with no explanation or recognition of separating causation from correlation. For example, sure, choosing 100 calorie packs over full-size bags can help with portion control during episodes of mindless eating.. but I finished a more recent and more thoroughly researched book not long ago that included data -- grossly summarized here -- on how the same people who bought those 100 calorie packs ended up purchasing and consuming a larger amount of those unhealthy products (eg, chips or crackers) than they had been previously. They didn't have data on why that was and didn't speculate much, but it demonstrates that this author's assumptions and oversimplifications are insufficient to be making the conjectures that have filled these chapters so far. There's also much comparison between people who have always been thin ("normal people") versus those who have been overweight or obese for some time ("fat people") with no regard for the extensive research (even at that time) showing how much more difficult it is to lose weight once gained versus remaining a consistent weight all along (eg, a formerly obese person would have to eat considerably less calories to maintain -- after already losing that fat -- an identical weight than a never-obese person could eat).

The book's entire premise, from asking restaurants to change their business model to accommodate you (because they'll allegedly make more money) to why designing your environment is superior to using will power like The Biggest Loser is, well, naive at best. Maybe that was the best information that was available at the time (although that still doesn't really justify the leaps from single study to guaranteed-to-be-successful practices).

Again, I'm only a couple chapters in, but I'm having a rough go of it. There's been zero mention or consideration thus far of: the emotional and psychological roles of trauma/etc in overeating, genetic differences (small though they seem to be), obviously the microbiome (definitely too old of a book), effects of various characteristics on efficacy of calorie absorption, and so on. There's also a very direct and undiscussed assumption that your goal is to lose fat (regardless of health), that it's solely your fault (will power is hard! don't worry about nutrition, other than eating salad first!), and that all fat people engage in the same "bad" habits, which are the opposite of those of skinny people.

Just don't read it. There are so many better books on the topic out there with much more accurate research. If Freakonomics Radio is any indication, it seems like the author's moved on to bigger and better things anyway; that is, he doesn't need the support of the book sales. Everyone wins.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you treat this book sort of like a Choose Your Own Adventure, it's four stars. If you plan to read every page, it will get cumbersome.

What I loved about it was the consistently clear instructions for change and their supportive research evidence. For example, if you have even one box of cereal in plain view in the kitchen, you will on average weigh 21 pounds more than someone who doesn't.

Eating well takes time and effort and the author skips willpower and blaming and focuses on designing spaces (homes, cafeterias, restaurants, etc) to support healthy eating.

The content goes on and on, and is intended for activism or clicktivism. There are lots of checklists, restaurant contacts, and sample letters and conversations. And this is what I mean about being cumbersome if you intend to read every page. If you instead focus on the portions of the book applicable to your life, well then I highly recommend this book.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that the results are all backed up with experiments, albeit not longterm observations. I wonder how the make overs work out in 5 years, 10 years, etc. Some tips might be useful to implement, e.g. to put out a fruit bowl in the kitchen, to stock up yogurt, string cheese, and cut vegetables, to sit facing away from the buffet bar, to use smaller plate, etc. Although I have doubts about how consistently one can adhere to the "design". I know the feeling of craving something, and am doubtful that eliminating the trigger would erase the craving. What this book is suggesting is very close to a diet. And we all know what diet do to the body. For example, one suggestion is to not ask for bread before a meal at a restaurant. I could do it sometimes, but certainly not all the time. I just love bread too much! And if I've been holding myself back from it, would I be able to stop myself from gorging on it? Only time could tell.

[JV Austen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly entertaining as all the studies are in homes/restaurants - places we are familiar with. He walks the line between working with restaurants to meet goals like earning more, getting people to eat healthier and promoting particular dishes. And that research informs us, the consumer, of some of the things we should be thinking about when ordering in a restaurant. The section on setting up your home to make yourself slimmer was slightly sad for me as I have 70% of those tips already in place and am, well, not slim.

A good book for people who like social psychology and insight into what drives people to make the choices they make.

[Adri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book and I know the changes in here be super helpful!

One thing it mentions is a checkout aisle that doesn't have candy. I would appreciate this so much, especially so the kids don't ask for candy or play with those battery powered lollipop spinners they always put at the lowest level. Guess what!! I realized they put those darn things down there for a reason. So now I let my kids play with those things the whole time. Let them. Mess it up. I don't care anymore!!! If you don't want my kid to mess up your aisle, then give me an aisle without any of that stuff. <<>> Gotcha, grocery store designer!!!!!

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is NOT a diet book. It's a way to become healthier eaters based on where foods are placed in your home, office, cafeteria, etc. Based on the wisdom that overcoming willpower is more difficult, smart food choices are made easier by conveniently placing healthier foods in your grasp. Solutions for your favorite restaurant, grocery store, as well as your child's lunchroom are included; however, those require action beyond yourself. Wansink calls us to action to enlist all our regular food establishments in the quest for a healthier community and country.

[Christian Jespersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. Good content. Informative. Two things that keep it from getting five stars.
The book is clearly written an American audience and American food culture, which I struggle to relate to.

Two, the author did the narration of the book, and his absurdly American way of talking and clear excitement about the results can be challenging some times. But the content and style of writing made it very easy for me to go through the book.

I highly recommend it. But if you aren't an American, then read the book instead.

[sleeps9hours · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a bit for restaurants and other establishments to change their design for people to eat less or more healthfully but I can't see them doing so. Less for individuals at home, especially if you've already read a lot of similar research (eat off small plates, don't have junk food available or visible, keep healthy food visible, etc.).

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s some useful tips and research insights, but it’s all drenched in pointless (and often not entertaining) humor and useless fill-in sentences. It could be 100% more useful if it was 50% more focused.

The other issue I saw is that it’s difficult to get who’s the audience the books is aimed to.

A tad too much on the overselling side makes it annoying and almost unbearable at the end.

[Rady Fahmy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good and a light book. It starts very well and it is obvious that it is backed by years of experience. It is a light and a quick read. It suffers from two things. The book is bloated, it could have been thinner by design. Second, it is written mostly for establishment owners or people that want to influence those establishments.

[Nikki Everson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would rate 3.5, and is worth the read in my opinion. Some basic tips and some I hadn't thought of, and I still use today, and some I didn't use. For example, the difference between storing heathier foods at eye level and in clear containers has been a very effective tip for me, both for eating more greens and preventing spoiling of leftovers.

[Chrys Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the tips were pretty good, especially at the beginning of the book. Other tips are pretty far-fetched and unlikely to happen. convincing my local restaurant or grocery store to change how they operate. Their business is highly unlikely. Overall, I wish I would’ve just read the previous book about my eating and the first chapter or two of this book.

[Kara Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few chapters of this book provided excellent tangible tips, but then the book took a turn. I won't be calling all the local restaurants or food stores I go to asking them to rethink their lay out to support people losing weight. Given that was the whole second half of the book, that wasn't as enjoyable.

[Caitlin Skellett · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining book with magazine-like info graphics. It's fun to read and interesting but there were certain sections of the book that don't really apply to everyone. I like that it is research-based and that the changes are all small and non-overwhelming ones.

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting with some very pertinent point about the psychology that affects our decision making around how and what we eat.

As this was based mainly around eating outside the home, I would now like to read a previous book by the same author - Mindless Eating.

[Ana Carolina Lemmens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. Reading is pleasant, tips are nice, but for me sometimes too American. I should have seen that one coming, after all, it's an American, who did research on food consumers in America, but I couldn't always relate with what was said in the book and that's too bad.

[Deepa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps I am cynical, but many of the suggestions (contacting grocery stores re: rearranging aisles, etc.) seemed .... a bit much. I did appreciate most of the practical, personal advice. Overall, this made me want to read his other book "Mindless Eating."