Meet HAPIfork: A New Diet Product That Yells At You For Overeating

Posted on 4/3/13

Written by Randi Zuckerberg

Just in case you missed hearing your mom tell you, “Honey, looks like you’ve put on a few pounds,” or stepping on the scale at the doctor’s office, or seeing those “Want to get rid of your muffin top?” ads on Facebook… Well, now there’s a fork that will judge you as well.

Recently, I’ve seen a lot of talk about HAPIfork, an eating utensil that buzzes when you eat too quickly. According to the product’s website, “Eating too fast leads to poor weight control. Every time you bring food from your plate to your mouth with your fork, the HAPIfork measures how long it took to eat your meal.”

The thinking behind the fork is that it takes time for your brain to realize that your stomach is full. If you eat too quickly, you get that awful feeling of being stuffed instead of just comfortably full. Better to slow down and let your brain catch up with your stomach. The folks at HAPIfork think that making you mindful while eating will help you enjoy your meals more slowly and eat less. Afterwards, you can check your meal stats on your phone or computer.

If you’re thinking, “But I wish that even MORE people could judge my eating habits,” don’t fret. You can choose to share data with your friends to encourage further public scrutiny and accountability. (For me, that’s akin to having a scale that Tweets out your weight. No-go. And in case you were wondering, one of those exists).

It’s a cute idea, but I’m not sure it would be very practical in my own life.

For one thing, the fork costs $99. I don’t know about you, but the china sets I got as wedding gifts are still sitting unopened in their boxes. And they didn’t even cost $99 for a whole place setting. You probably wouldn’t get a whole set of forks, because it would be too expensive, but would you really just buy one lone fork to single out the one person in your family who eats too fast?

Second, I’m often not at home when I eat. I’m at the office, out at a restaurant, at a friend’s house… Can you imagine going over to a friend’s house for a dinner party, or out to a nice restaurant, and casually whipping out your own fork? And then the fork starts buzzing?! I guess it could make for fun dinner party conversation, but probably at your expense.

And finally, if I’m sitting down at home to eat, I’m usually pretty mindful of what I’m eating. It’s when I’m on-the-go, eating unhealthy foods that don’t require a fork, that I tend to fall off the wagon most – grabbing an ice cream cone, a piece of pizza, or a hamburger. Those are the times when I NEED a utensil that will yell at me and say, “Randi! What the hell are you doing?! You’re supposed to be on camera next week! Put that down!” But when was the last time you ate a McDonalds burger with a fork? Fail.

So, if you’re one of those people who eats most of your meals at home, is obsessed with tracking stats about your health, and doesn’t mind the $99 price tag… You’re probably already doing pretty well, health-wise. But nonetheless, this could be a fun gadget to try out, and it’s definitely a creative solution for a societal problem.

For now, I guess I’ll just stick to motivating myself by looking at those muffin-top ads!

What do you think? Would you buy this fork?

Stuck In Front Of A Computer? Tips For Healthy Working

Like what you’re reading? Request an invite for more: http://dotcomplicated.co/

Comments

comments