We all know that it's difficult to lose weight eating out, as people take in more calories, more fat, when they eat out

than when they eat at home. If you're trying to stay healthy by keeping your weight under control, consuming

200 to 300 extra calories every time you eat out is not going to help. But mindful eating might help...

Keeping your attention on the experience of eating- the color, presentation, texture and smell of the food before

you might just be the key to controlling calories when you're out at a favorite restaurant.

A new study finds older women who used mindful eating techniques at restaurants lost on average 4 pounds in 6

weeks, even though their intention was only to maintain their current weight. Wow.

These women also consumed fewer calories and grams of fat each day, and were more able to stick with their goal to

lose (or maintain) their weight.

The subjects were 35 women (aged 40 to 59) in the Austin Texas area who ate out a minimum of three times per week. About 50% of the subjects took part in a 6 week mindful eating program that was intended to prevent

weight gain, while the others served as a control group.

Those in the mindful eating group also received six weekly sessions, two hours in length that focused on...

- Talking about the general principles involved in managing weight.- Setting personal weekly weight goals.- Planning what to eat at favorite restaurants taking into account

both calorie and fat info.- Being able to visualize proper portion sizes.

- Instruction on mindful eating meditation, that is, being aware of the look, smell and feel of the food so that you

get the maximum enjoyment and satisfaction with a smaller portion AND a guided mindfulness meditation that fosters relaxation and focuses awareness on hunger, flavor,

fullness and your own eating triggers.

By the study end the women who did the mindful eating lost 3.7 pounds, on average, while the control group didn't

experience any sizable weight loss.

What's more, those undertaking the mindful eating cut their daily intake by almost 297 calories... but only 124 of those calories were accounted for when eating out. This means that fewer calories were consumed at home too.

The frequency with which the subjects ate out didn't change throughout the study period, so this tells us that

those who practiced the mindful eating had more success managing their weight while following their usual habits.

The research team believes the study shows the need to come up with creative solutions to keeping weight off. Going beyond eat less, exercise more, to finding real,

practical approaches to addressing today's weight loss challenges. One of these may be giving people skills such

as mindfulness eating that help them manage the amount of calories they take in when in those high risk, calorie

packed places like restaurants.

We all know how important it is to stay at a healthy weight, especially as the years pass. Keeping your weight

in check with mindful eating prevents obesity from gaining a foothold, and leaving you with less risk of life altering diabetes and dangerous heart disease, special risks for

women after menopause.

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