Episodic future thinking reduces eating in a food court

Episodic future thinking (EFT) is the psychological process of vividly imagining a future event, and this process has been shown to reduce overeating in the laboratory. To assess the efficacy of EFT in the natural environment, twenty-nine overweight or obese womenwho wanted to improve their eating habits were randomly assigned to one of two smartphone-implemented interventions - EFT or control episodic recent thinking (ERT) - while they ate dinner in a public food court. Results showed a reduction in consumption of total calories, a reduction in percent calories fromfat, and an increase in percent calories from protein for EFT versus ERT. These data suggest EFT may be used tomodify eating habits in natural eating environments, and may show potential as a component of behavioral obesity interventions. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.