In order to boost your fat loss, you know that it’s important to make the best food choices possible most of the time. The only way to do that consistently is to positively shape your food environment. In other words, you can’t eat healthy if you don’t have healthy food around. On the other hand, if there’s unhealthy food around, chances are you’re going to eat it.

According to Cornell researcher Dr. Brian Wansink, the real secret to healthier eating isn’t about willpower; instead, it involves what he calls the “CAN” approach. Specifically, Dr. Wansink says that healthy foods should be Convenient (visible and readily available), Attractive (enticingly displayed), and Normal (the obvious choice).¹

How can you begin implementing a CAN-do attitude and boost your fat loss? You can start with these three simple tricks.

Have a Fully Loaded Fruit Bowl on Hand

In one study, Dr. Wansink found that folks who have a fruit bowl in the house weigh, on average, 8 pounds less than their next-door neighbor who doesn’t. To be most effective, add at least two different types of fruit to the bowl and keep it in a high-traffic area. Other than your fruit bowl filled with colorful options, it’s a good idea to remove other less healthy foods from your kitchen counter.

Get Junk Food Out of Sight

In one study, Dr. Wansink found that people who had chips or cookies on their countertops (i.e., visible) weighed about 10 pounds more than people with bare counters. Even more surprising, folks who kept boxes of breakfast cereal on the counter weighed about 21 pounds more, and those people who had soft drinks readily available weighed 25 pounds more!

Use Smaller Plates

You may have heard this before, but eating off smaller plates can make a tremendous difference. Dr. Wansink recommends using 9- to 10-inch plates, and his research suggests that downsizing from 12-inch to 10-inch plates reduces portion sizes by 22%.²

Embrace a CAN-do attitude, make one of these small changes today, and set yourself up for success!