Secret Eaters Show Reveals the Obesity Causing Effects of Mindless Eating

Are you familiar the television show Secret Eaters? I just discovered it and I’m hooked.

“Secret Eaters” is a British TV show that helps people understand why they might be gaining weight despite thinking they eat healthily. Participants, who are often puzzled by their weight gain, are secretly filmed and asked to keep food diaries. The show then reveals the surprising truth about their eating habits.

Using hidden cameras, “Secret Eaters” captures what participants really eat throughout the day. Often, they’re shocked to see just how much they’re consuming without realizing it. The show also brings in nutrition experts to give practical advice on how to make better food choices and control portions.

In each episode, viewers get to see the journey of these individuals as they learn about their hidden eating patterns and get tips on how to lead a healthier lifestyle. It’s an eye-opening and supportive way to help people make positive changes to their diet and health.

As I watch the show, I couldn’t help but think that it is like a like a television version of one of my favorite books, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink.

Reading this book and applying its lessons provided the awareness I needed to change my relationship with food and end my decades long struggle with my weight. I was able to clearly see that I wasn’t broken, my environment was. I used what I learned to create a weight loss environment that supported me.

So imagine my excitement discovering a television show that brings all its powerful concepts and insights to life!

Here are highlights from the first episode I watched summarized in this Youtube video by Kiana Docherty…

HighLights from I’m Fat – But I Eat Lots of Fruit! | Secret Eaters by Kiana Docherty Youtube Video

The overall message of the show is an important and comforting one if you have ever struggled with your weight. The message: If you are gaining weight you are eating too much.

It’s super easy to underestimate how much we are consuming every single day.

There’s usually a difference between what we think we are eating and what we are actually eating.

Murray is one of the most notorious Secret Eaters contestants of all time. Murray and his wife Helena are a middle aged couple with sedentary lifestyles who have gained 146 pounds between them. Neither of them believes they overeat. They explain that they overall eat healthy, mostly at home and their weight gain doesn’t make any sense.

There’s a myth that as we age our metabolism slows down resulting in weight gain. In reality the gain is the result of accumulation of overeating habits, loss of lean muscle mass and overall reduction of movement and exercise.

A 5’4″ 55-year old sedentary woman who is at a healthy BMI can eat about 1,500 calories a day to maintain her weight. A man Murray’s height, age and activity level would need around 2,000 calories a day.

It’s really hard to not gain weight when you are sedentary. The calories add up quickly. A typical fast food meal can be over 1,200 calories. Sneaky calories from fats, sugars, sweet treats and alcohol can really add up.

For Breakfast Murray was eating a bowl of Special K cereal with milk, banana, splashes of British double cream (48% fat) and large dollops of jam. It turns out he was adding 1400 calories of cream to his cereal. This points out the need for all of us to know a little bit about calories and nutrition.

One of the most helpful things you can do is to spend some time tracking your calories and getting to know how many calories are in various foods. Otherwise you are completely flying blind. You have no idea how many calories you could be consuming on a daily basis, like Murray.

In addition to adding 1,400 calories of cream to his morning bowl of cereal, he was eating four times the serving size of cereal. (Discovering that I was eating way more than a portion of cereal was one of the first things I learned on WW. It’s so easy to do.)

Special K did a great job in the early 2000s marketing itself as a weight loss cereal, when in fact there is nothing special about its nutrition profile.

It turns out Murray’s morning bowl of cereal contained 2,500 calories.

One day while at work the private investigators found that he ate: 3 cheese and picalilli sandwiches, a microwaveable hotdog, 2 bags of kettle chips, one apple pie for two, 3 slices of meat feast pizza, 2 slices of garlic bread.

During the week of surveillance where his food consumption was monitored he consumed over 6,000 calories a day.

Murray had been a marathon runner. When you are training for and running in marathons you need to eat a ton. It may be that Murray continued to eat in a way he was used to even after he stopped running. Or he may have been in denial because he was found to have been sneaking fast food and takeout while out of the house.

In an interview with the Daily Mail after his eating habits were exposed on Secret Eaters Murray explained, “I was eating semi-correctly or believing I was. I thought I was eating plenty of fruit and salad. I thought if I was eating one piece of fruit a day then I was eating healthily. But on one particular day I had eaten more than 8,000 calories. I was shocked to the core. I felt disgusted to tell you the truth.” The problem was a lack of knowledge about what healthy really means. As a result foods such as jam and cream formed a recurring part of his menu.

Unless you are really interested in learning how to eat healthy how would you even begin to know how to do it?

Most of us in this modern food environment need to be intentional with what we consume because if we are just mindlessly eating whatever is around us given the current food environment we are very likely to struggle with weight gain.

Murray and Helena are dealing with something that I think is going to become a much bigger problem over the next 20 to 30 years. We are going to see a lot more stories just like this. People who maintained a healthy weight when they were younger, who never really had to think much about what they ate. But then slowly over their lifetime things began to shift. They gain a few pounds here, a few pounds there. And then over 15, 20, 30, 40. 50 years they suddenly find themselves overweight or obese. They had no idea of how to deal with it because it was not something they had to think about or worry about when they were younger. But if you gain one pound every single year then in 30 years you will be 30 pounds heavier. And if you gain 2 pounds or 5 pounds or 10 pounds or 15 pounds, those numbers get much worse as you get up in age.

The obesity causing effects of our modern food environment:

In the 1970s most people were not overweight and obesity was pretty rare. Researchers believe this is mostly due to how different the food environment was between then and now.

In the 1970s most meals were still cooked at home. A standard meal for a British family would have been meat and two veg.

The food culture centered around home cooked meals.

Back then fast food was just beginning to take off. It was not something you had very often. It was more of a treat.

We didn’t really eat many high calorie snack foods or convenience foods.

If you grew up in the 50s, 60s or 70s you didn’t have to think about what you consumed as much.

Today things are very different.Convenience foods have taken over. Junk food is in every aisle and fast food is on every corner. It’s hard to get away from it.

That’s why these days being aware and intentional about the food choices we are making is absolutely vital.

While Murray was the star of the episode, Helena represents a problem that is probably more common than a 2,500 bowl of cereal. When they track her food they find:

She is not eating exorbitantly. She is not sneaking takeaway meals. She is not have humongous bowls of cereal.

She has a very normal diet but she does have a sweet tooth.

She has no idea how many calories are in the sweet foods that she is eating. So she is eating in a way that adds up to weight gain over time. Beginning with 2 sugars in her coffee times the 5 cups of coffee she has per day. That is 10 teaspoons of added sugar each day just in her coffee. This is 40 grams of sugar and 160 calories.

Surveillance revealed that she consumed about 1,200 calories just in hot sugary drinks and 1,700 calories of sweet treats, or about 340 calories a day which adds up over time to explain here weight gain.

You can be healthy and have sweet treats but you need to be mindful and intentional. You can have your cake and eat it too by learning which treats are worth and which are not.

In the end Murray and Helena make great progress. Over 6 weeks they both lost a stone or 14 pounds. Murray has begun going to the gym and running again.

This is one of the reasons I love Secret Eaters. It shows how a little bit of awareness can lead to big results.

New WeightWatchers Member Experience vs. “Secret Eaters” Discoveries

When someone joins WeightWatchers, their initial weeks often involve eye-opening revelations about their eating habits, much like the participants on “Secret Eaters.” As I watch “Secret Eaters” I can’t help but think about the similarities between their discoveries and what I learned about my eating habits during my first few weeks on WeightWatchers decades ago. I was so oblivious to how oversized my portion sizes were and just how many calories I was actually consuming. I’ve seen it time and time again with new WeightWatchers members.

Awareness and Accountability

WeightWatchers: New members start by tracking everything they eat and drink. This process reveals hidden calories and portion sizes they may not have been aware of before. It’s common to realize just how much those “small” snacks or “occasional” treats add up.

Secret Eaters: Participants on “Secret Eaters” undergo similar discoveries. The show uses surveillance and food diaries to expose hidden eating habits. Viewers often see people shocked by how much they eat without realizing it.

Mindful Eating

WeightWatchers: Through tracking and point systems, members become more mindful of their food choices. They learn to make healthier swaps and balance their meals better, leading to more nutritious and satisfying diets.

Secret Eaters: The participants also become more mindful of their eating habits. When faced with the evidence of their unconscious eating, they begin to make more deliberate and healthier choices.

Support and Guidance

WeightWatchers: Members have access to a supportive community and resources such as recipes, tips, and coaching. This guidance helps them navigate their weight loss journey with more confidence and less isolation.

Secret Eaters: Participants receive advice from experts who help them understand their eating behaviors and make sustainable changes. This expert guidance is crucial in helping them transform their diets and lifestyles.

Long-Term Habits

WeightWatchers: The program encourages the development of long-term healthy habits rather than quick fixes. New members gradually build routines that support their weight management goals for the long haul.

Secret Eaters: The show aims to instill long-lasting changes by making participants aware of their habits and providing strategies to improve their relationship with food. The goal is sustainable health and well-being.

Emotional Insights

WeightWatchers: New members often gain emotional insights as well. They start to understand the emotional triggers behind their eating patterns, leading to healthier coping mechanisms.

Secret Eaters: Participants on the show also uncover emotional connections to their eating habits. Understanding these connections is key to making lasting changes and breaking the cycle of mindless eating.

Conclusion

Both new WeightWatchers members and “Secret Eaters” participants embark on journeys of self-discovery and transformation. They learn about the hidden aspects of their eating habits, become more mindful, and receive the support they need to make lasting changes. This parallel journey of awareness, support, and long-term habit formation underscores the importance of understanding and addressing our eating behaviors to achieve better health and well-being.