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.

The post Do You Sit In The Fat Or Skinny Area Of A Restaurant? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Putting the “big” meal aside, most extra holiday calories don’t come from the “day of” holiday meal but from unrelenting nibbling over the long holiday season.

Here are 15 workable tips to help you handle holiday food. Choose and use what will work best for you and your lifestyle.

1.  You’re the one in charge of choosing what, when, and where you eat. Make the best choice for you — not for someone else. Eat what you want not what you think you should. Give yourself permission to NOT eat something just because it’s tradition.

2.  To make good choices you need to inform yourself. If 12 ounces of eggnog has 500 calories and 12 ounces of beer has around 150 and you like them both, which would you choose?

3.  Don’t feel obliged to eat what your partner, parent, neighbor, or sibling is having – and don’t let them make you feel guilty if you don’t. What you choose to eat should be what you like, want, and is special to you — not someone else.

4.  Say “no thank you” to rolls, mashed potatoes, and ice cream. You can have them any time of the year. Spend your extra calories on something special.

5.  Practice portion and plant control. Pile your plate high with lower-calorie vegetables and be stingy with portions of the more calorically dense, fatty, and sugary foods. Eat high volume, lower calorie foods (like vegetables and clear soups) first – they’ll fill you up leaving less room for the other stuff.

6.  Be attentive to mindless noshing. For some reason we don’t seem to mentally process the random nibbles and calories from the treats on the receptionist’s desk, the office party hors d’oeuvres, the nibbles off of a child’s plate, or the holiday cake in the snack room. If the food is in front of you it’s hard not to indulge. See it = eat it.

7.  Don’t deprive yourself of your favorite holiday foods3. Give yourself permission to eat the holiday treats that you really want – just not the whole platter. A good strategy is to decide on one fantastic treat a day and stick to your decision. Do it ahead of time and commit to your choice so you don’t find yourself wavering in the face of temptation.

8.  Let this be your mantra: no seconds. Double-decking the food on your plate isn’t such a great idea, either. Choose your food, fill your plate, and that’s it.

9.   Pick the smallest plates, bowls, and glasses you can to help you feel full even when you’re eating less. The smaller the plate, the less food that can go on it. You probably won’t even notice the difference because your eyes and brain are registering “full plate.” The same optical illusion applies to glasses.  Choose taller ones instead of shorter fat ones to help cut down on liquid calories.

10. Don’t feel obliged to eat out of courtesy because you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings.  Get over it – the calories are going into your mouth, not someone else’s.  Avoid food pushers who insist on trying to get you to eat more. Have some polite excuses ready to use. You’re the one who will be stepping on the scale or zipping up your jeans the next day – not them.

11. Don’t go to a party hungry, thirsty, or tired — it sets you up for overindulging. Our bodies have a tough time differentiating between thirst and hunger and we often make poor decisions when we’re tired. Before going out have a small healthy snack that‘s around 150 calories and has protein and fiber — like fat-free yogurt and fruit, a serving (not a couple of handfuls) of nuts, or a small piece of cheese and fruit. When you get to the party or dinner you won’t be as likely to attack the hors d’oeuvres or the breadbasket.

12. Forget about grazing. Take a plate — or even a napkin for hors d’oeuvres — put food on it and eat it. Lots of little nibbles add up to lots of big calories. Noshing is mindless eating.

13. Sit with your back to a buffet table – and as far away as possible – so temptation isn’t in your line of sight. A lot of “eating” is done with your eyes and your eyes love to tell you to try this and to try that. Try talking to someone, too. It’s hard to shove food in your mouth when you’re talking.

14. A buffet doesn’t have a “stuff your face” sign hanging over it. Pay attention to what you’ll enjoy and really, really want — not how much you can fit on your plate.

15. Keep in mind that a holiday is a day – 24 hours — like any other day, except that you’ll most likely encounter more food challenges. Be selective. Pass on the muffins at breakfast and save your indulgence calories for “the meal.” Before you put anything on your plate survey your options so you can choose what you really want rather than piling on a random assortment of too much food.

The post Nibbles and Noshes, Cocktails and Cookies: 15 Tips To Keep You and Your Scale Happy appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Is your holiday mindset: lots of food = good time; not so much food = bad time? Can you exude holiday spirit without accompanying gluttony?

You bet you can, but it isn’t always easy. Celebrations are often intertwined with the need or obligation to cook and/or eat — not just because you’re hungry, but for many other reasons, too. There always seems to be that one common denominator: food – and a lot of it.

Since we all have to eat, it can be a very slippery slope to eat well when you’re surrounded by all that food; family and friends; an encyclopedia of cultural, religious, and family traditions; and a whole host of expectations.

Is Food Part Of Your Holiday?

In the grand scheme of things, the actual content of your Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, or Christmas meal matters very little. Consistently overeating a few hundred calories will have its effects over time, but the extra calories from one meal has negligible impact (you may feel totally stuffed, but you can work off the one day’s indulgence pretty easily).

It’s the inevitable mindless eating – those bites and nibbles and calories from the treats on the receptionist’s desk, the gift of peanut brittle, the holiday toasts, the second and third helpings, the holiday cookies in the snack room and everywhere else, that are the culprits. If the food is in front of you it’s hard not to indulge.  See it = eat it!

Food Has Meaning

During the holidays we wrap our thoughts around food – after all, Thanksgiving originally was a harvest celebration and many cultures and religions have special foods to signify a special holiday. Aren’t there visions of sugarplums dancing in your head?

Food, its meaning and presentation may be interpreted differently – but with equal importance — by people of varying religions, ethnicities, and cultures. Food also acts like a cloak of comfort – something many of us look for and welcome around the holidays.

• But, nowhere is it written that holiday food has to be eaten in tremendous quantity – or that a meal has to include stuffing, two types of potatoes, five desserts, or six types of candy. That idea is self-imposed.
• So is the opposite self-imposed idea: trying to diet during the holidays. Restriction and overeating are both difficult – and often equally counterproductive.
• Winter holiday eating comes during the cold and dark seasons in many parts of the world. Warm comfort food just seems all the more appealing — whether you’re dieting or not — when it’s somewhat inhospitable outside and celebratory inside.

Do You Plan to Overeat During the Holidays?

Think about it. Unconsciously, or perhaps intentionally, a lot of us actually plan to overeat during the holidays. Be honest: do you know that you’re going to overeat? Do you think it wouldn’t be normal or non-celebratory if you didn’t overindulge and eat three desserts at Christmas and nibble on every Christmas cookie in sight?

During the holidays food is absolutely everywhere. It’s there for the taking — and most of the time it’s free (and in your face) at parties, on receptionist’s desks, and as sample tastes while you shop. How can you pass it up?

Most of it is sugary, fatty, and pretty. How can you not try it? Of course, sugary and fatty (salty, too) means you just crave more and more.   Do you really need it? Do you even really want it? If you eat it, will you feel awful later on?

Traditions, Obligations, and Guilt

We all attach varying levels of importance and obligation to traditions and we all come with varying ounces and pounds of guilt. Here’s where that may come into play during the holiday food fest:

• Do you gobble down holiday food because of tradition – maybe you’ve been eating the same food at Christmas or Hanukkah since you were a kid? Maybe you don’t even like the food anymore. Perhaps it disagrees with you or gives you acid reflux. So why are you eating it? Who’s forcing you to?
• Do you think you won’t have a good time or you’ll be labeled Scrooge, Grinch, a party pooper, or offend your mother-in-law if you don’t eat everything in sight? Get over it. Do you really think you’re Scrooge?

You can still love the holidays and you can still love the food. In the grand scheme of things overeating on one day isn’t such a big deal. Overeating for multiple days that turn into weeks and then months becomes a problem.

Do you really want to overeat? If you do, fine. Enjoy every morsel and then take a nap – although it’s better if you take a walk. Tomorrow is another day. Just know that you don’t have to overeat. You control your fork and the decisions about what goes into your mouth. Make thoughtful choices and enjoy them along with everything else the holiday represents.

For more tidbits check out Eat Out Eat Well on Facebook.  And remember to Like the page while you’re there!

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If you are – or perhaps live and/or work with one — you’d better be prepared to wear your loosest pants the day after your (or their) favorite team loses. Put another way, you better hope your football team won (for more reasons than one) or chances are you’ll be joining your fellow fans rummaging around the kitchen later that day — or have the pizza place on speed dial.

No joke! According to a study published in Psychological Science, on the Monday after a big football game fans of the losing team like to load up on sugar and saturated fat. Fans of the winning team go for healthier foods.

How Much Fat? How Many Calories?

Researchers looked at the typical Monday food consumption habits for people living in over two dozen cities. They compared that data to people’s food consumption on Mondays after NFL games in cities with NFL teams who had played games over the weekend.

They found that people living in cities where the football team lost ate about 16% more saturated fat and 10% more calories compared to how much they typically ate on Mondays.

People in cities where the football team won ate about 9% less saturated fat and 5% fewer calories compared to their usual Monday food.

These changes happened even when non-football fans were included in the study sample. In comparison, they didn’t find these results in cities without a team or in cities with a team that didn’t play that particular weekend.

The after effects were even greater in the most football crazed cities — In the 8 cities with the most devoted fans, people gobbled up 28% more saturated fat after a loss and 16% less after a win.

Down To The Wire Games Amped Up The Food Effects

These trends were especially noticeable when a game came down to the wire. When their team lost, especially if the loss was unexpected or the team lost by a narrow margin to an equally ranked team, the effects were the most noticeable. The researchers think that people perceive the loss, perhaps unknowingly, as an identity threat and use eating as a coping mechanism. A winning team wins seems to give a boost to people’s self-control.

To further test their findings, researchers asked French participants to write about a memory they had when their favorite soccer team either won or lost a game. Then they asked them to choose either chips and candy or grapes and tomatoes as a snack. The people who wrote about their favorite team winning were more likely to pick the healthier snacks.

Something You Can Do

Previous studies have shown how sports can influence — among other things — reckless driving, heart attacks, and domestic violence. But, according to the researchers, no one had ever looked at how sports results can also influence eating.

The researchers suggest a technique to use tp help keep your fat intake and calories under control if you root for a team that doesn’t have a winning record — or even if you just live in a city with a team that tends to lose.

• After a loss, write down what’s really important in your life.
• They found that this technique, called “self affirmation,” eliminated the eating effects that occurred after football losses.

The post Why Are Your Pants A Bit Snug The Day After Your Favorite Football Team Loses? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

What happens?  You eat the skimpy portion – decide you’re still hungry – and then go back, maybe two or three times, for more.

And if you keep the serving dishes on the table right in front of you, it’s way too easy to keep refilling your plate – or just stick your fork out and eat from the platter.

Get Those Serving Dishes Off The Table

If you want to make it a little easier for yourself to save on calories, one thing you can do is to get those serving dishes off of the table.  When serving dishes are left on the table men eat 29% more and women 10% more than when those serving dishes stay on the counter.

Why?

It’s harder to grab seconds if you have to get up to get them. Sticking out your fork and shoveling more onto your plate while your butt remains firmly planted in your chair makes it far too easy to refill your plate without much thought about the quantity of food that’s going into your mouth.

Men chow down on more servings than women because they tend to eat fast  – impatiently gobbling food while they wait for everyone else in the family to finish. As a result, they end up eating seconds and thirds while other people are still on firsts.  Women usually eat more slowly so they’re not as likely to get to the seconds and thirds.

To help avoid the temptation of going back for seconds:

• Let this be your mantra: no seconds. Figure out a reasonable portion of food that is within reason but not so skimpy that you’re nowhere near satisfied when you’re finished.
• Keep the serving dishes off of the table.
• Choose your food, fill your plate from the stove or from the serving dishes on the counter, and that’s it. No seconds.

Do you know someone going off to college?  Give him or her a copy of my book 30 Ways to Survive Dining Hall and Dorm Room Food:  Tips to Avoid the Freshman 15.  You can get it from Amazon (print and ebook), and as an ebook from Barnes & Noble and iBooks.

The post An Easy Way To Avoid Second Helpings appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Want some straight-forward, sensible guidelines that focus more of how to eat rather that precisely what to eat?

According to Marion Nestle’s blog, Food Politics, Brazil has designed dietary guidelines to help protect against undernutrition and to prevent the health consequences of overweight and obesity.  (You can find the guidelines here, but if you don’t read Portuguese, you’ll have a bit of trouble.) Fortunately, Food Politics provides us with a translation of the guidelines.

There are three “golden rules:”

1. “Make foods and freshly prepared dishes and meals the basis of your diet.
2. Be sure oils, fats, sugar and salt are used in moderation in culinary preparations.
3. Limit the intake of ready-to-consume products and avoid those that are ultra-processed.”

The ten guidelines:

1. “Prepare meals from staple and fresh foods.
2. Use oils, fats, sugar and salt in moderation.
3. Limit consumption of ready-to-consume food and drink products
4. Eat regular meals, paying attention, and in appropriate environments.
5. Eat in company whenever possible.
6. Buy food at places that offer varieties of fresh foods. Avoid those that mainly sell products ready for consumption.
7. Develop, practice, share and enjoy your skills in food preparation and cooking.
8. Plan your time to give meals and eating proper time and space.
9. When you eat out, choose restaurants that serve freshly made dishes and meals. Avoid fast food chains.
10. Be critical of the commercial advertisement of food products.”

It’s not always easy or affordable to find the freshest foods and to take the time to make them. But for the majority of the time, the guidelines sound downright sensible and pretty doable, don’t you think?

The post Some Really Sensible and Easy To Follow Dietary Guidelines appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

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.

The post 30 Easy And Doable Eat Out Resolutions To Try — Pick One! appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Are you feeling some holiday pressure? Are you, along with lots of family and friends, jumping into entertaining and cooking mode?

Is food a good antidote to all of that stress (at least in the moment)?  What about the pressure – subtle and sometimes not so subtle – to eat everything that’s set out on the table by those close to you?

Then there’s the anger/guilt about eating way too much – and then repeating the whole process.

Consider These Ideas:

• Don’t feel obliged to eat out of courtesy – especially if you don’t want the food or you’re full –because you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings.  Get over it – the calories are going into your mouth, not theirs.

• Give yourself permission to NOT eat something just because it’s tradition. Whose tradition?

• Only eat it if you want it. Eat what you want not what you think you should.

• Say no to the friend or relative who is pushing the extra piece of pie. You’re the one stepping on the scale or zipping up your jeans the next day – not them.

• Have some personal rules and commit to them.  An example might be:  I really want pecan pie for dessert so I’ll have only one biscuit without butter with my meal.

• Make a deal (with yourself) that you can eat what you want during dinner. Put the food on your plate and enjoy every last morsel. Clean your plate if you want to. But – that’s it. No seconds and no double-decking the plate.

• Make trades. Trade the biscuit and butter for wine with dinner. Limit the hors d’oeuvres. They really pack in calories. Make eating one or two your rule.

• Choose your beverages wisely.  Alcohol adds calories (7 calories/gram). Alcohol with mixers adds even more calories. Plus, alcohol takes the edge off lots of things – including your ability to stick to your plan.

• Drink water. It fills you up. Have a diet soda if you want. If you’re going to drink alcohol, try limiting the amount – think about alternating with water, seltzer, or unsweetened beverages.

• Control your environment. Don’t hang around the buffet table or stand next to the platter of delicious whatevers. Why are you tempting yourself?

• Talk to someone. It’s hard to shove food in your mouth when you’re talking.

• Get rid of leftovers. Leftover stuffing has defeated the best-laid plans.

• Don’t nibble during clean up (or preparation for that matter). Broken cookies, pieces of piecrust, and the last spoonsful of stuffing haven’t magically lost their calories.

• Don’t starve yourself the day of a grand meal. If you do in an attempt to save up calories for a splurge, you’ll probably be so hungry by the time dinner is ready you’ll end up shoving food into your mouth faster than you can say turkey.

• If you end up overeating, add in some longer walks and a couple of days of moderate eating afterward.

Do you want some more really helpful (and sometimes humorous) info about the holidays and holiday eating?  Check these out:

New on Amazon:  30 Ways to Eat Your Holiday Favorites and Still Get Into Your Jeans

Available from the iTunes store:  Eat Out Eat Well magazine

The post Your Holiday Eating Cheat Sheet appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

1. A chocolate chip cookie—or oatmeal raisin for that matter—should be about the size of the rim of a soda can. Some cookies are four times that size—and with four times the calories and fat content!
2. Don’t be duped by turkey, fish, and veggie burgers and sandwiches. They sound healthier and less caloric than beef, but that might not be the case. At Red Robin a grilled turkey burger has 578 calories, 29g fat. Burger King’s Premium Alaskan Fish sandwich has 530 calories, 28g fat while a Whopper Jr. without mayo has 260 calories, 10g fat. A Sedona Black Bean Burger at TGI Fridays has 870 calories, 49g fat.
3. Bottled water isn’t always just water. Some are just water or water with flavor essence but lots of them are naturally or artificially sweetened, flavored, and colored. Don’t be duped. For instance, many Vitaminwater flavors have 50 calories in a serving (8 ounces), but the bottles are usually 20 ounces which makes the contents around 120 calories and 30+ grams of sugar. There are no-calorie Vitaminwater Zeros, too.
4. Skip the bran muffin for breakfast. We think bran muffins are “healthy” because they have the word bran in their name, but they’re actually made with a lot of sugar and fat. A Dunkin’ Donuts Honey Bran Raisin Muffin has 480 calories with 15 grams of fat and 79 grams of carbs (it does, however, have 5 grams of fiber). In general, a 4 ounce bran muffin has around 350 calories—but, have you seen the size of most muffins—they sure don’t tip the scales at 4 ounces.
5. Cans and boxes that look like single servings may have two or three. They may look small enough to be for one, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. Check out how many servings are in your can of soup or box of mac and cheese.

Want more tips — especially if you eat in dining halls of any kind?  Get my new book, now available on Amazon — 30 Ways to Survive Dining Hall and Dorm Room Food: Tips to Avoid the Freshman 15.

The post 5 Quick And Easy Calorie Saving Tips appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

The biggest problem is that we often don’t realize that we’re shoving food into our mouths – either because we’re distracted, we don’t want to know, or we just plain old don’t care.

What Makes Us Do It?

1.  “Cheap” calories: the kind you find at all you can eat restaurants, freebie tastes in markets, the basket of broken cookies in the bakery, and “value and super sized meals.”

2.  Bread and extras like butter, olive oil, and olives on the table or bar peanuts or pretzels.  Way too tempting to pass up – especially if you’re hungry or you’ve walked in with the attitude that you “deserve” it because you’ve had a tough day.

3.  Walking into your kitchen or the snack room at work and having your favorite snacks staring you in the face (see it = eat it).

4.  Procrastinating or avoiding doing what you have to do by having a snack.

5.  Watching TV with a bag of chips or a bowl of candy on your lap.

6.  Parties— especially when you drink — causing you to lose count and control of what you’re grabbing to eat.

7.  Food and coffee shops on every corner that offer lots of food, lots of variety, and are open all the time.

8.  The in(famous) sugar/fat/salt combination in baked goods, fast food, candy, fast food, frozen food, and processed food.

9.  Food that your family or roommates insist must be in the house – or that you think they want in the house.

10.  Feeling tired, stressed, overwhelmed, bored, angry, or “out-of-sorts” and turning to food as a “pick-me-up” or for comfort.

11.  Mindless bites – a piece of candy from the open bowl on a desk, a taste of your partner’s dessert, finishing your child’s food (especially dripping ice cream cones).

12.  Being a member of the clean plate club – which also extends to polishing off leftovers and finishing the last bits left in the pan or serving dishes as you clean up.

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