The average American makes more than 200 decisions about food every day, according to Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab. Most of the time we don't even know we're making them--until we discover that our clothes no longer fit. Wansink wants to alert the public to this dietary sleepwalking. His new book, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (Bantam), is a fascinating look at the hidden psychology of eating, with tips to help people sidestep the fattening ploys of food manufacturers and restaurateurs. TIME's ANDREA SACHS spoke with Wansink.
What do you mean when...