Poor planning at the buffet
Researchers at Cornell University observed patrons at all-you-can-eat buffets. They found that only 33 percent of obese customers checked out the full buffet before serving themselves, while 71 percent of normal-weight diners did so. So look before you leap: You’ll be less likely to overfill your plate.

A lack of sleep
A University of Colorado study found that although insufficient sleep can actually increase your body’s metabolism, people who spent a week sleeping only five hours a night ate far more than those who slept nine hours. The short-sleepers gained an average of two pounds.

The excess of excess
Bacon cheeseburgers on a buttered glazed-doughnut bun? Peanut butter-and-bacon ice cream shakes? There have never been more opportunities to consume almost comically fattening products. Just say “no way”!

Addictive foods
Frito-Lay’s slogan for its potato chips was “Betcha can’t eat just one!” That was a good bet: It’s hard to stop once you get that taste of salt and carbs. In Salt Sugar Fat, Pulitzer-winning reporter Michael Moss describes how these addictive ingredients hook us on high-calorie, low-nutrient products.

A tiny breakfast and big dinner
A 2013 Israeli study found that overweight women who ate a big breakfast, moderate lunch and small dinner lost more than twice the weight as women who took in the same calories, but mostly at dinner. The maxim is true: Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.