For those who avoid eating out for fear of packing on the extra pounds, a new study by the University of Texas at Austin suggests there are ways to enjoy restaurants without gaining weight.

Dr. Gayle Timmerman, an associate professor for the School of Nursing, led the study, which involved 35 healthy women between the ages of 40 and 59 who eat out at least three times a week. The study intended to evaluate the effectiveness of the Mindful Eating strategies, which aims to create awareness while eating to promote healthiness.

The 35 women completed weekly two-hour sessions where an instructor taught them the principles of the Mindful Eating program. It included mindful eating meditations and teaching how to limit overeating and how to make more health-conscious decisions when ordering food at a restaurant. For instance, choosing black beans over refried beans at a Mexican restaurant.

Since restaurants are where many people overeat, Timmerman wanted to teach the women ways to still enjoy eating out.

“Previous research revealed that 50 percent of binges when women overeat occurred in restaurants,” said Timmerman. “So we wanted to develop intervention strategies to prevent weight gain.”

After six weeks of learning how to choose menu items that are lower in fat content and to eat more slowly so that your body can recognize when it’s full, the women lost nearly four pounds on average. Although they continued to eat out as often as they had before, nearly six times a week on average, they also reduced their intake by around 300 calories a day.

"Based on what we learned from this study, for those individuals who eat out frequently, developing the skills needed to eat out without gaining weight from the excess calories typically consumed at restaurants may be essential to long-term health," said Timmerman.

For both female and male college students who eat out frequently, these tips can be very useful.

“Eating unhealthy and over eating at restaurants is a big problem for college students,” said Jazzyn Booker, who was a representative for Fit In, a UT student organization that is dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyles among minority women on campus. “A lot of college students don't cook, so they value going out to eat for convenience purposes and to also get a hearty meal from their favorite restaurants.”

Paying attention to what you are eating is the most effective way to attain a positive relationship with food and therefore find your ideal healthy weight, according to the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center’s website.

The main Mindful Eating program strategies for eating at a restaurant include knowing where the calories are coming from, by learning how to identify foods high in calories and fat. It also suggests learning alternatives for your favorite foods, like Italian or Chinese. Slowing down how fast you eat is also key, it helps you listen to hunger and fullness cues. And finally, plan ahead; thinking about where and what you are going to eat ahead of time can help.

This may include choosing menu items that are different from your normal entrée.

“Students should try new things on the menu that they aren’t accustomed to, preferably things that are a little healthier than their normal choices,” said Booker.

By learning and implementing these tips, you can still take pleasure in eating out, without seeing consequences on the scale.