The Seven Secrets of Highly Obese People

By David Zinczenko

Why do some people simply pack on the pounds effortlessly? It's not always genetics and it's not always gluttony and you can't always blame it on lack of exercise. Indeed, getting fat is often a result of some simple -- and easily correctable -- bad habits, especially when it comes to dining out.
As my co-author, Matt Goulding, and I began researching the Eat This, Not That! series, we discovered plenty of egregious examples of super-fattening foods in both America's supermarkets and our chain restaurants. And we learned that if you just know what to order and what to avoid, you can shave off pounds effortlessly. For example, does On the Border really need to stuff more than a day's worth of calories -- 2,550 -- into its Dos XX Fish Tacos? (Remember when fish was healthy?) And shouldn't Chili's warn parents when a selection on its kids' menu comes with 82 grams of fat, like its Pepper Pals Little Chicken Crispers does?
But it's not just the food itself. The restaurant industry has spent decades studying human behavior and figured out all sorts of subliminal ways to make us want to order and eat more. (Ever notice how all fast-food restaurants use red, yellow and orange in their packaging and decor, but never blue, green or purple? Think that's just a coincidence?) And a lot of those psychological tricks have become ingrained in our behavior. In a study in the journal Obesity, researchers looked at the habits of people dining at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Those with the highest body mass indexes (BMI) -- a measure of obesity -- seemed to demonstrate a series of "fat habits":

• They use larger plates. When offered two plate sizes, 98.6 percent of those with the highest BMIs took the larger of the two plates to the buffet. A bigger plate tricks your eye into thinking you're not eating as much, and stuffing more food onto your plate -- and into your mouth. Use a smaller plate, get a smaller belly.
• They eat while looking at food. 41.7 percent of those with high BMIs took seats that overlooked the buffet, instead of sitting in a booth or facing in a different direction. The site of food tends to make our minds think we have more work to do, eating-wise. Keep your food stored in the fridge or the pantry, not out on the countertops.
• They eat with maximum efficiency. While Chinese buffets offer chopsticks, 91.3 percent of obese patrons opt for forks. That just makes it easier to shovel in the food!
• They clean their plates. Of those patrons who were heaviest, 94 percent cleaned their plates so there was nothing left. Ignore Mom's advice -- let a little linger.
• They chew faster. Researchers actually monitored the chewing habits of the buffet-goers and discovered that the heaviest 1/3 among them chewed their food an average of 11.9 times before swallowing. The middle 1/3 chewed an average of 14 times, and the leanest 1/3 chewed 14.8 times.
• They dive in. The leanest people in the study typically took a lap around the buffet first, to plot out what they wanted to eat. But the more overweight group charged right in; doing so means you may fill up on some less-appealing items, then have to go back to snag that one nosh you have to have, but missed the first time.

Oh, and one more habit the overweight have that we've been reporting on for years:
They skip breakfast. Doing so raises your risk of obesity by a whopping 450 percent!