Dr. Wansink has found it to be such an issue that he even devoted an entire chapter to the perils of bulk buying (cleverly titled, "Curse of the Warehouse Club") in his book Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think.
The top tip from Wansink? Put those munchies where you can't spot them -- Wansink says we eat more of a food when we can readily see it. For instance, most of us tend to binge on snack foods, such as chips, when they are kept somewhere in our line of sight, such as on the kitchen counter. If space is an issue, make a vow to keep snack foods out of the house until you have found a designated spot where you can stow it away to keep temptation at bay.
Wansink also suggests dividing those bulky buys into smaller containers. If that silo of cereal is around, it can spell trouble: Bigger food packages tend to prompt us to eat more than smaller packaging, his research has found. Nipping overeating in the bud can be as simple as setting some time aside when you arrive home from the warehouse club to store small portions of problem foods in zipper bags or plastic containers -- instant portion control!
My top pointers for bulk-style shopping?
First up, buddy up. Not only will doing so save you money, but bringing a friend with you will help you take advantage of those multipack buys that you can often find such as pasta, by splitting the packs. That way you can divide the cost among you and avoid having too much of any given food on hand. My friend Lara even uses walkie-talkies with her warehouse buddies so they can report deals to each other.
Use what you have, creatively. A few trips in to the warehouse shopping habit and you may find you have too much of a good thing on hand. Having budget-friendly healthy foods in your pantry won't do you any good if you're so tired of eating them that they go stale. Search the great recipes that are offered online, at the About.com Low Calorie Cooking Guide site, for example, to use them in new, unexpected ways. You can sometimes use these staples in ways in which you can't even detect their presence, such as sneaking bran flakes into a cookie recipe.
Make space before you go. It's really frustrating to come home with tons of healthy food to incorporate into your week's meals only to find that they remain at the front door where you laid them down because there is simply nowhere to store them. Organize and make space in your pantry before you go -- it's a great opportunity to update your grocery list to make sure you get any staples you are low on and to discard old or stale foods. Use the same tactic for your fridge and freezer.
Take that list. And speaking of a list, if it's not a good idea to go to the grocery store without one, it's certainly downright dangerous to go warehouse-clubbing without one. I often suffer from what I call "bargain blindness" where I get so dazzled by the prices and the sheer amount of everything on offer that I buy more than I intended. The only way to avoid this is to make a list at home and to stick to it ... no matter what.
Previous Daily Tips:
Automatic Portion Control
Feel Fuller to Prevent Overeating
