1. Consider A Half-Cart Solutions Suppose your grocery store sectioned a cart in half by taping a piece of yellow duct tape across the middle interior. And suppose they put a sign in the front of the cart that recommended that you put all the fruits and vegetables in the front and all the other foods in the back. This dividing line in the cart doesn’t moralize or lecture. It just encourages shoppers to ask themselves whether the food in their hand goes in the front or the back of the cart. We made a few dozen of these carts to test at supermarkets, and shoppers with these divided carts spent twice as much on fruits and vegetables. Divide your cart with your coat, your purse, or your briefcase. Or bring your own duct tape. MORE: The Diets That Are Proven To Make You GAIN Weight
  2. Wander The Healthy Aisles First First in sight is first in cart. Make a point of wheeling through as many of the produce aisles as possible. Even if it’s fast and furious, simply seeing more fruits and vegetables while your cart is empty makes them more tempting.
  3. Grab Some Gum8 gums that aren’t packed with sketchy chemicals Most food cravings—including those that occur when we shop—seem to be caused when we imagine the sensory details of eating a food we love. One way we can interrupt these cravings is by simply chewing gum. We gave gum to shoppers at the start of their shopping trip; at the end of their trip, they rated themselves as less hungry and less tempted by food—and in another study we found that they also bought 7% less junk food than those who weren’t chewing gum. (Try these .) For more healthy shopping tips from Dr. Wansink, check out his newest book, Slim By Design.
  4. Use Your Intuition First And Their Labels Second Supermarkets and food companies have endlessly experimented with little stickers and icons that they hoped would help us to eat better. They’d say things like “Good For You,” or “Better for You.” Most of us ignored them because they were too confusing, self-serving, or unconvincing. Rely first on your common sense and only the use the ratings to break ties between brands. (Beware of these 10 meaningless food labels you keep falling for.)
  5. Ask For Candy-Free Checkouts There’s usually nothing in the [checkout] aisle that we actually need, but after 45 minutes of seeing food, guess what we want? It’s not a snack-size can of lima beans. Ask [the manager] if they would consider putting in a candy-free aisle. You can mention that other stores (such as Hy-Vee, Wegmans, and HEB) have at least one candy-free checkout aisle, and you’ve heard they’re popular with both dieters and parents shopping with kids. If one of those stores you mention happens to be a nearby competitor, it might not be too many more trips before you have your candy-free aisle.