Temptation is at its most delicious when you're eating out, and you can't control ingredients or portion size.
But a new study says you can control your appetite.
The U-S Department of Agriculture says that every time you eat away from home, you add an average 134 calories a day to your diet. A study in the Journal of Nutrition and Behavior taught women to eat significantly less when eating out.
The program is called Mindful Eating and the key is: just take your time. When you eat slowly, says the study's author, you pay more attention to the texture, taste, and smell of each bite, making each forkful more satisfying."
Some of the women in the study learned to eat less at home, saving room for calories in the restaurant. Others learned to eat less at every meal, no matter where it was.
After completing the six-week program, the women were consuming 297 fewer calories per day. They lost, on average, about two point two pounds. So eating out doesn't have to mean giving in on that new diet.
