Lemondrop

Remember when your mom used to repeat that classic little-kid mantra, "your eyes are bigger than your stomach"? Well, there may be some truth to the statement -- scientific truth.

According to a recent study conducted by Alexander Chernev at Northwestern University, we tend to determine calorie counts based on the order in which we see our food.

In one experiment, Chernev found that participants who were shown a cheeseburger estimated that it had 570 calories, while those who were first asked to name the amount of calories in a salad then stated that the cheeseburger had 787 calories, upping the amount by 38 percent.

Even more surprising: Participants had a hard time correctly guessing the calorie differences between "healthy" and "indulgent" foods placed before them in the same order. Those who were shown a slice of cheesecake followed by a cheeseburger said the meal had fewer calories than a salad/cheeseburger combo!

Confused? If you ask Chernev, the study's takeaway is simple: People who tend to overestimate the calorie content of healthy/indulgent sequences of items -- i.e. salad/cheeseburger -- are also more likely to have greater self-control when it comes to consumption. In other words, round up and you're likely to eat less.