Raise your hand if you’re a small appliances addict. I’m looking at you, the home chef with a slow cooker, pressure cooker, ice cream maker, waffle maker, electric griddle, toaster oven and indoor grill.
Don’t be ashamed. We’ve all been tempted by a door-buster deal at the department store.
This past week, I’ve contemplated a question that I still don’t have an answer to: Is there a correlation between weight gain and the small appliances you keep on your kitchen counters?
When I was a psychology major in college, I learned about something called “channel factors.” Channel factors make it easier for behaviors to occur.
For example, if your toothpaste is right next to your toothbrush, you’re more likely to use toothpaste when you brush your teeth. If you bring your lunch to work, you’re more likely to save money by not eating out at a restaurant. If you tell your children to walk the dog at the same time you hand them the leash, your poodle is more likely to get exercise.
If you take the principle of channel factors and apply it to your kitchen in terms of weight control, the things people normally talk about are meal planning, stocking your fridge with cut up veggies and not bringing junk food into the house. You never hear experts rage against the competition for counter space.
But for small appliances, the war to win prominence is like Game of Thrones. Who will win the spot next to the kitchen sink and who will be banished to the garage? Unleash the dragons. The cake pop maker is doomed.
A standing mixer is the perfect example. Lots of folks keep their beloved standing mixer on the counter full time and don’t use it to mix up salads. Would a hand mixer work just as well for 90 percent of the things they bake? Hand mixers are easy to store in cabinets. Out of sight, out of mind, out of cookies.
For me, personally, the bread machine is an issue. I love the smell of freshly baked bread and my pantry is stocked with gluten free mixes. It’s way too easy to bake bread or mix up a batch of cinnamon rolls. Mmm! Cinnamon rolls.
If I put the bread machine away, and replace it with the rice cooker, would it eventually become easier to fit into my skinny jeans? The last time I binged on brown rice was … never.
OK, here’s where that pondering has left me. I’m picturing all the appliances I own lined up in a row. Now I’m asking myself, which appliances support my long-term goals for better health?
Darn it! I’m sorry, ice cream maker, but perhaps I don’t need you in my life at all.
Jennifer Bardsley is author of the books “Genesis Girl” and “Damaged Goods.” Find her online on Instagram @the_ya_gal, on Twitter @jennbardsley or on Facebook as The YA Gal.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.