This new research will help you make better food decisions

• Healthy foods have so much more to offer than mere vitamins and nutrients, such as delicious crunch, a colorful feast for the eyes, and, yes — a ton of flavor.
• Being mindful of these “experiential” elements of eating could help you choose wisely. This could be as simple as topping a salad with some fresh herbs or keeping a bottle of hot sauce at work to amp up the flavor of an otherwise “boring” plate. 
• These strategies can “help us enjoy eating nutritious foods time and again and feel satisfied when we do because we aren’t in a mindset of restriction.

3 p.m. snackers, take heart: Preparing your indulgences in advance is a research-backed strategy for keeping your cravings in check.

. In a series of field studies surveying real office environments, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University found that employees who decided on their lunch orders in the morning consumed five percent fewer calories than their colleagues who made their choices in the moment.

By planning your lunch or snack time menu ahead of time — and planning something nutritious yet delicious — you’ll get to eat what you want… and your brain will benefit, too.