Google's Secrets To Weight Loss

It's no secret that Google is ahead of the game in terms of healthy eating in its cafeteria. Now, FastCompany sheds new light on how Google encourages healthy eating at the office. All it took were a few simple changes that "nudged" employees to make healthier choices, and ultimately, tips that could help you, too. What we learned at Google's cafeteria:

• Dig in for the Candy, Eat Less: After making it harder to reach candy in an opague bin, there was a 9 percent drop in caloric intake from candy.

• Put the Greens Up Front: Research showed that people are prone to load up on whatever food they see first. The healthy solution: put the salad bar up front so people filll their plates with veggies rather than pizza.

• Grab the Smaller Plate: A sign in Google's cafeteria lets employees know that diners ate more with bigger plates. That one sign prompted "small plate usage" to double to 32 percent.

• Red Light, Green Light: Google labeled good foods, including those with veggies, with green labels; bad foods earned the red labels. The new color-coding system goes with Harvard's revamped food pyramid.

• See the H2O: Putting the bottled water at eye level in the fridge — and soda and sugary drinks at the bottom — increased water consumption by a whoping 47 percent. Soda consumption fell 7 percent, too.