Slim by Design

Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life

By: Brian Wansink

Narrated by: Brian Wansink

Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2014 Brian Wansink (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers

Great concepts with very doable solutions.

Was very easy to listen to and offered realistic solutions that are easy and will make a big difference.

great ideas... but, who is this book for?

I love the science and the movement he's trying to create, but the book is all over the place.

It's for people who want to lose weight, and parents who want their kids to be healthy, and restaurant owners, and school administrators, and grocery store owners.

There's so much extra (read: "not necessary") stuff, it should have been broken into three or four books.

The real reason diets are a myth.

This book does a great job of bunking the whole Myth of dieting. Nobody can live on them and the only way to achieve long-term results is to make choices in our environment. Brilliant material.

Important, insightful, and a little repetitive

This sort of book isn't usually my cup of tea, but my wife told me to read it. I was very impressed by the substance of this book, and the fascinating research behind it.

I'm giving it a very high rating because, though the book has some flaws, it's contents should be read by everyone.

Good book, interesting research!

Any additional comments?

This book was good and the research he presents was interesting and definitely worth thinking about. The only thing that is slightly annoying is he is clearly selling the phrase "Slim by design" because he says it over and over, like a sales pitch. Other than that bit, it is a very good book.

liked it, didn't love it

interesting info but pretty repetitive
narrator's voice was distracting
liked hearing about the research studies

Great information!

Love the science behind it all!! There is so much more than just the food! Thanks for educating!

Environment is everything

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This book could be summed up in a tweet: design your home/work environment in such a way that you don't cheat and stay healthy.

What could Brian Wansink have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Added more cases, more reflective thoughts on the struggles of people who cannot control their environment, tapping into the psychological blocks that impede people from thinking like the disciplined ones. A more how-to guide that is easy to implement and start using.

Was Slim by Design worth the listening time?

No.

Great first half, but this is more of a reader

because you can select and choose your "type" of lifestyle and changes to go with it, there was a ton of redundancy and irrelevant info. still, amazing ideas and meticulous research. I learned a lot in the first half.

Interesting research but not at all what I wanted

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I think restaurant owners and grocery store owners might enjoy this, but not people looking for help with changing their food habits and way of looking at food.

Would you ever listen to anything by Brian Wansink again?

Probably not

How did the narrator detract from the book?

It's not awful, but it's not great. For the price, I'd like a professional reader.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The topic and the research is interesting, but not at all what I was hoping for. I was hoping for principles that are applicable to my life. I was looking for a how-to for changing my own habits and food storage to encourage me to make better food choices. For the three or four tips I gleaned from the book, I could have read a blog post. It would probably be an interesting read to someone who is just looking for eating habits research outcomes or for a restaurant or grocery store owner looking for good reasons to push the sale of real food and increase their profits.

Any additional comments?

Instead of a how-to for people looking to improve their eating habits, health and lives, this is a vague look at individuals habits and a how-to for grocery store and restaurant owners. I think it's valuable to the national conversation around health and encouraging better buying habits for society at large, but not for individuals looking for ways to make healthy eating more convenient. Additionally, the 100 item check list, which is the one actionable thing I can use, I don't get to have because I got the audiobook! That's exactly the stuff I wanted and I don't even get to have it. Pretty disappointing.