I just caught my kids eating mindlessly. Perched in front of the TV, watching a favorite movie treat -- Monsters Inc. -- my guys were shoveling in the food. Fortunately, sitting before them were bowls of fruit. Apples, pears, and cherries are what their little fingers grabbed and their little teeth chewed. Yes, it was nothing but healthy stuff passing through the lips of my boys. They devoured the contents of their Spider-man bowls. Nothing better than that.

Eating mindlessly is not such a bad endeavor if the food you eat is both healthy and portion-controlled. But for most foods -- well, the foods full of calories, fats, sugars, and such -- you really should be mindful of what you eat. I know: It's not that easy.

"We believe we have all the free will in the world," says Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating and head of Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab. "We believe we overeat if the food is good or if we're really hungry. In reality, those are two of the last things that determine how much we eat." What really influences our eating, according to Wansink, are visibility and convenience.

So what's the solution? Try to avoid "family style" eating with big serving bowls on the table. Don't eat directly from a bag or carton. Ditch your big plates and big containers and come up with some streamlined options. And try not to eat in the car, with friends, or in front of the television -- unless of course, you are consuming moderate portions of fresh fruit.