Hannah Borno

There comes a time when a girl gets sick of dieting and seeks an alternative. Usually it’s a Tuesday. I’ve literally spent whole years of my life dieting and it’s no way to live.

I’ve zoned, food combined, and blood typed myself silly, I’ve done lo-GI, no-GI, hi-GI, till my head spun and I collapsed giddy into an ocean of cabbage soup.

When you’re dieting you don’t think of anything much, you’re aware of one thing only - that you’re hungry. Having said that, not dieting doesn’t suit me - I’ve gained a solid two stone since my wedding last October. “You must be happy” my husband says. Perhaps too happy.

Thank God, Dr Brain Wansink, the enthusiastic high-powered author of Mindless Eating (he’s setting the new dietary guidelines for the States) has offered to help me. He believes I’m trapped in the ‘mindless margin’ - that swathe of food you munch through without even realising it. It’s those leftovers you eat standing up in front of the fridge; the kettle chips you chomp through in front of the TV and the biscuits you eat absentmindedly whilst gazing at the computer screen. I’ve developed compelling habitual eating patterns that I simply can’t break out of and the best thing about it is, that it’s not my fault! Habits are so strong that we cannot change them by willpower alone - we need to employ cunning strategies to trick our mind out of them. Wansink tells me that the only way to break free of my bad habits is to substitute them for good habits - however tiny. I’m substituting three habits a month and I can lose up to a pound a week - mindlessly. Once those three habits are embedded - which takes around a month - you then add another three until you’re magically controlled by mesh of good habits, instead of bad.

From now on I’m always going to eat off small plates, drink out of tall thin glasses and never serve my food from serving dishes on the table (I’ll leave the pans on the stove). I cannot believe these tiny tweaks will reverse my exponential weight gain- but I’m a desperate woman, and I’ll give anything a try.

Now excuse me while I go and eat a steak sandwich off a side plate and drink a pint of wheat beer from a thimble.