Weekend calorie counting

Eat at the same times on the weekends as you do during the week, and make sure you eat breakfast.

You may want to rethink your weekend eating habits.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Calorie counting can be tricky, because calories can be sneaky things. Sometimes they hide in portion sizes that mislead us. Other times they're lurking in beverages that we gulp down without thinking. Now, a new study shows that unexpected calories can be a consequence not only of what we're eating and drinking, but also what day it is. And for dieters who aren't counting calories carefully on the weekend, a week of healthy eating can be wrecked before Monday morning.

THE DETAILS: A pair of marketing professors from the University of Pittsburgh and Quinnipiac University in Connecticut examined data collected in 1998 and 1999 by a market-research firm on the eating habits of roughly 600 men and women. Each participant kept track of the foods eaten by everyone in their household over a two-week period. The professors analyzed the data and found that people tended to eat more on weekends than they did during the week—particularly at breakfast, when they likely had more time to eat than on weekdays.