I admit that I am an exercise addict–seven days a week without fail. That’s my good side! However I’m also a confirmed sugar-holic and am always on the alert for ways to beat my sugar cravings. I love good food and eat out at least four nights every week. So what makes me unable to resist the high calorie menu entries determined to blow my daily calorie count? According to a research study I saw it’s not the gorgeous pictures or the lusciously erotic descriptions of that salted caramel indulgence. Are you ready for this? It’s your waiter! And not because he’s trying to inflate your check.
Nope, according to a study published in the journal Environment and Behavior in Dec 2015, the research found a link between your waiter’s body mass index and how much you’ll order. Researchers observed “497 interactions between diners and servers in 60 different restaurants for the study. They found that diners ordered more menu items when served by a server with a high BMI—specifically, they were four times as likely to order dessert, and they ordered 17 percent more alcoholic drinks.”
“No one goes to a restaurant to start a diet. As a result, we are tremendously susceptible to cues that give us a license to order and eat what we want,” lead researcher Tim Doering said in a press release from the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, which funded the study. “A fun, happy, heavy waiter, might lead a diner to say ‘What the heck’ and to cut loose a little.”
Now you know to request unhappy, non-smiling, obnoxiously skinny waiters, if you want to survive your meal without binging on dessert. But you also should know that eating foods prepared away from home on a frequent basis has been linked to obesity, higher body fat and a higher BMI—and women who eat food prepared away from home more than five times a week were found to consume an extra 290 calories a day on average.
BTW, even reading the above study I thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate mousse cake I ordered last night with the salted caramel topping oozing over the plate. And yes, my waiter was a riot–fun, happy and delighted when I told him about the study….
Okay, sign up my newsletter and I’ll give a $10 dollar gift card to the person who ordered the most outrageous dessert. And do tell us if your waiter was fun, happy and heavy…
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