Eat Out Eat Well

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Do You Sit In The Fat Or Skinny Area Of A Restaurant?

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Do you sit in the fat or skinny area of a restaurant?

Choose your seat carefully. According to Brian Wansink, Director of Cornell’s Food and Brand Lab, where you sit in a restaurant does have an effect on how much you eat!

Scratching your head yet?

After mapping the layout of 27 restaurants across the country and analyzing what and where customers ate, here are some general findings and recommendations from Wansink and his team:

  • Diners who sit the farthest from the door eat the fewest salads and they are 73% more likely to order dessert.
  • People who sit at darkly lit tables or in booths eat fattier foods.
  • Diners who sit within two tables from the bar, drink, on average, three more beers or mixed drinks (based on a table of four) than a group even one table farther away.
  • Diners order healthier foods when they sit by a window or in a well-lit area. Wansink speculates that seeing sunlight, people, or trees might make you think about how you look which, in turn, might make you think about walking — which could prompt you to order a salad.
  • People at uncomfortable high-top tables tend to choose salads and order fewer desserts, perhaps because it’s harder to slouch or spread out.
  • Conspicuous consumption, or eating in an area where other people can see you, seems to cut down on overeating. If it’s darker, Wansink thinks you might feel more “invisible.”  Since it’s not too easy to see how much you’re eating, you feel less conspicuous or guilty.
  • The “fat” table? Try near the TV screen. The closer you sit to the screen, the more fried food you’ll probably eat because you’re distracted and likely to order seconds and refills.

Some additional findings in Wansink’s book, Slim by Design:

  • Skinny people face away from the buffet when they eat.
  • Thinner people choose smaller plates.  It takes less food to fill up the plate causing you to eat smaller portions.
  • Diners sitting at high-top tables tend to order more fish and salads.
  • Diners at regular tables order more vegetarian entrees and more vegetable sides.
  • Diners at tables near the window have fewer drinks and have more side salads.
  • Diners at tables closer to the TV screen and the bar order more chicken wings and drinks.
  • Diners in booths order more ribs and desserts.

How Does Restaurant Decor Affect How Much You Eat?

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restaurant sign, front of restaurant

In most restaurants, the décor isn’t an accident — it’s intended to keep you seated at the table longer or to get you to eat and run.

Think about how long it takes you to gobble down a Big Mac or a shortstack of pancakes with bacon.  The red and gold color schemes, noise levels, and general hustle and bustle in many diners and fast food restaurants encourage you to eat quickly – and allows the restaurant to “turn the tables,” or to get another group of people seated at the table you just vacated pretty quickly so they can serve more food and make more money.   The white tablecloths, soft music or hushed sounds  of fancier restaurants make it pleasant for you to linger longer — and order another glass of wine, dessert, coffee, and after dinner drink – from which the restaurant makes more money.

Watch your waistline, too.  According to Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating and director of Cornell’s Food and brand Lab, the atmosphere of a restaurant can get you to overeat in two ways:  if it’s really pleasant you want to stay longer — and therefore order and eat more.  If it’s very brightly lit and possibly loud and irritating you usually gulp and run, probably overeating before you realize that you’re full.

Know your restaurant and its setting:  think about pacing yourself in the speed environment and avoiding the temptation to keep ordering in the relaxed environment.

30 Easy And Doable Eat Out Resolutions To Try — Pick One!

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Eating out can be a real challenge to your waistband.  It can be pretty hard to make the best choices on the spur of the moment.

There are times to go all out and eat everything – maybe a special meal or celebration.  But for everyday eating, whether it’s at the coffee shop, takeout for lunch at work, or dinner at the local diner — why not resolve to stick to certain personal rules that are the most workable for you.

Here’s a list of some possibilities – all of them pretty doable – some easier that others depending on your preferences.  If you make up your mind to do one thing – and consistently stick to it – that behavior will eventually become your default habit pattern.

Ideas To Try:

  1. I will not stick my hand in the breadbasket and eat what comes out.I will only have one piece of bread with dinner instead of two or three (harder breads tend to have fewer calories).
  2. I will only have one piece of bread with dinner instead of two or three (harder breads tend to have fewer calories).
  3. I will have my bread naked — without butter or olive oil (one teeny pat of butter has 36 calories, a tablespoon has 102, and a tablespoon of oil has 120).I will not use bread to sop up every last bit of sauce or dressing on my plate.
  4. I will not use bread to sop up every last bit of sauce or dressing on my plate.
  5. I will not eat all of the leftover broken pieces of cookies, brownies, crackers, etc.I will not taste everyone else’s meal at the table and then eat everything I ordered.
  6. I will not taste everyone else’s meal at the table and then eat everything I ordered.
  7. I believe it’s not necessary to clean my plate in a restaurant because (a) I paid for the meal, (b) it’s really good, or (c) it’s sitting in front of me.I will order pizza without extra cheese and meat.
  8. I will order pizza without extra cheese and meat.
  9. I will eat only two slices or pizza instead of three or four.I will have a two-scoop ice cream sundae instead of three – or maybe even one scoop.
  10. I will have a two-scoop ice cream sundae instead of three – or maybe even one scoop.
  11. I will order a single scoop sugar cone instead of a large waffle cone in the ice cream store. Sprinkles (jimmies) are a pretty low calories bonus.I won’t eat the crusts of grilled cheese or pizza off of my kid’s plate.
  12. I won’t eat the crusts of grilled cheese or pizza off of my kid’s plate.
  13. I won’t help with my kid’s ice cream cone, either – under the pretense of helping to keep it from dripping all over or falling on the sidewalk.I will hold my dinner wine to two glasses (a 5 ounce glass of wine has around 120 calories).
  14. I will hold my dinner wine to two glasses (a 5 ounce glass of wine has around 120 calories).
  15. I will keep my hand out of the bar snacks:  peanuts, goldfish, chips, etc.I will ask for salad dressing on the side and then use only a couple of spoonsful – not ladles like those commonly used in restaurants or salad bars.
  16. I will ask for salad dressing on the side and then use only a couple of spoonsful – not ladles like those commonly used in restaurants or salad bars.
  17. I’ll skip the pie a la mode and just have pie.I’ll eat the filling and leave most of the piecrust on the plate (can save around 200 calories).
  18. I’ll eat the filling and leave most of the piecrust on the plate (can save around 200 calories).
  19. I’ll order the smaller cut of steak in the steakhouse.I’ll ask for mustard instead of mayo on my sandwich (saves about 100 calories).
  20. I’ll ask for mustard instead of mayo on my sandwich (saves about 100 calories).
  21. I’ll have a cheeseburger instead of a bacon cheeseburger (two strips of bacon are about 100 calories).I’ll have plain coffee or tea instead of a mocha latte or hot chocolate.
  22. I’ll have plain coffee or tea instead of a mocha latte or hot chocolate.
  23. I’ll ask for veggies instead of mashed potatoes; salad instead of French fries.
  24. I’ll have a regular burger or even a regular cheeseburger instead of a big mac, whopper, etc.
  25. I’ll skip the mid-morning donut or pastry and have yogurt, fruit, or a small portion of nuts instead.
  26. I’ll have grilled chicken or fish instead of fried.
  27. I’ll only have one stadium-sized beer instead of two.
  28. I won’t buy a candy bar when I stop for gas.
  29. I’ll have a giant bagel only one of the weekend days instead of both.
  30. I won’t use a road or plane trip as an excuse for non-stop candy and chip indulgence.

What are some of your eating out resolutions?  Post them on Facebook so others can try them, too.

Get more ideas.  Subscribe to EatOutEatWell digital magazine available from the iTunes stores.

Is What You Order In A Restaurant Really Your Choice?

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Have you ever walked into a restaurant absolutely certain that you know what you want to eat? Then the waiter hands you the menu and asks if you want to hear the specials. All of a sudden your “I’m absolutely certain that this is what I’m going to order” has taken a back seat to the pasta special. Why?

Remember Paul Simon’s song, “Mother and Child Reunion”? According to Simon he “was eating in a Chinese restaurant downtown. There was a dish called Mother and Child Reunion. It’s chicken and eggs. And I said, I gotta use that one.”

Putting aside the popularity of the song, who would think to describe chicken and eggs as a Mother and Child Reunion?

Is What You Order Really Your Choice?

Smart restaurant owners and chefs use creative phrasing and mouthwatering descriptions to describe their food.  They’re using menu psychology to suggestively sell from their menu pages. They use design, placement, and words to direct your attention to key items on their menus so it’s more likely that you’ll notice, remember, and order what they’ve pointed you toward.

Sometimes they highlight their signature dishes, but mostly they want to get you to focus on their high profit margin items — the ones that make them the most money. They aren’t always the most expensive, but they are the most profitable.

There’s nothing wrong with ordering something that’s going to make money for a restaurant, but wouldn’t you like to feel that the selection is purely your choice rather than the restaurant’s?

Menus Target Both Your Stomach And Your Mind

A menu is targeted not just at your stomach, but also to your mind.

Gallup once reported that most people spend an average of 109 seconds reading a menu — a pretty short amount of time. Even if people take longer to really read it — after all, some menus are like encyclopedias — a menu’s design means more than a nice layout. It requires psychology and marketing, too.

It’s in the restaurant’s best interest to really pay attention to its menu – a redesign can improve sales by an average of 2 to 10% — which could mean a significant boost in income.

So, a descriptive phrase like “Mother and Child Reunion” is just one of many ways to influence your choice. The messages are often subliminal, but where menu items are placed, how graphics are used, the way the food and drink choices are described, and even the use of dollar signs — all send you directional signals.

The bottom line is that restaurants hope that their menus — a magical brew of prices; superlative or descriptive words; and varying fonts, sizes, and colors — will play with your brain cells and nudge you toward making the choices they would like you to make.

Do you eat out?  This is the second article in a series of consecutive posts about decoding restaurant menus. Keep checking back for more information that might help you with your restaurant choices.

 

Do Restaurant Meals Sabotage Your Diet?

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Are you afraid to eat out for fear of “blowing your diet” or because you think there aren’t good choices to be had? Are you tired of hearing that you shouldn’t go to restaurants if you want to control what you eat?

Choices

You can choose to eat out and eat well. You are responsible for making good choices for yourself.

Your first choice is when you select which restaurant to go to (do you want grilled fish or a huge plate of pasta).  The second round of choices come when you’re inside the door and confronted with the menu, the breadbasket, and the portions.

Restaurant Meals

I eat out a lot.  After years of cooking for a very active family of five, I’m quite happy not to cook every night.  I actually find it easier to control my portions and calorie consumption when I eat out in restaurants.

I follow a number of unwritten guidelines that, over time,  have become habits.

I eat in the restaurant rather than ordering in or bringing prepared food home.  It is too difficult to eyeball portions when they arrive as full containers and it is far too easy to eat too much by finishing off the last bits rather than saving or tossing the leftovers.

Select Wisely

I pick my everyday restaurants carefully and I’ve developed relationships with the wait staff.   I certainly go to special restaurants on occasion and really enjoy the fantastic food – but that’s not my everyday fare. My “everyday” restaurants serve food that is friendly to my eating patterns.

They offer a range of lean proteins and vegetables and are amenable to swaps.  My local diner is so used to me ordering a side of spinach instead of home fries with my eggs that they bring it without my asking.  They make food swaps with pleasure – not with grumpiness.  I’m a good customer and ask very politely.

I don’t let the breadbasket even land on the table (if I’m eating with others it goes near them — my husband agrees with the breadbasket taboo).  Bread is way too difficult to resist when it’s staring you in the face and can add hundreds of calories before you get to the main course.

I usually drink iced tea, water, diet coke (yep, I like it), or a glass of wine.  These choices account for zero to around 120 calories for the wine (one restaurant sized glass).

If I do have dessert at an “everyday” restaurant, it’s berries in season.  If they’re not sweet enough I sprinkle a little Splenda on them – which makes my husband wince, but I find quite satisfying.

By no stretch of the imagination am I so controlled that I eat plain lean proteins and steamed vegetables all of the time.  Far from it – but for routine meals, I try to stay away from sauces, dressings, and sides of pasta, rice, or potatoes.  When I really “dine” at the finer restaurants, I deliberately choose  (not always successfully)  to limit either the number of courses or the portion size.  I attempt – again, not always successfully – to lay off the bread and control the liquid and dessert calories — often choosing either an appetizer or a dessert.

When I’m with other people who are ordering an appetizer and an entrée I often will order two appetizers instead — a practice that is so common that most waiters  don’t even blink an eye.  I find that if food is in front of me I’ll eat it – especially if it’s a lengthy meal.  The smaller the portion in front of me (appetizer size) the less I eat.  Still tastes darn good.

No Trauma

Don’t let the thought of eating out be traumatic.  Restaurants exist to serve you meals and it is up to you to choose which one to go to and what you will eat when you get there.

If you know you’re going to go for broke because you’re eating at a special place – or just because you want to – don’t freak out.  Eat and enjoy — you can always compensate by controlling what you eat earlier in the day or the next day.    Be careful about depriving yourself — you don’t want to feel so “cheated” that you end up raiding the fridge when you get home and chowing down on more calories than if you had eaten a full meal in the restaurant.