Most dieters know that eating mountainous portions at restaurants is a no-no when it comes to weight loss. A new study out of the University of Texas at Austin confirmed this adage and discovered a few loopholes that allow dieters to lose weight and enjoy an occasional restaurant meal.

In this study, the researchers tracked the dining out behaviors of a group of dieters. They found that dieters that decided to box up their dinner to go before the meal arrived tended to weigh less at the end of the study compared to those that received the entire meal.

They also note that successful dieters tended to budget restaurant calories by eating a lighter meal at other points in the day to compensate for their dining out calories.

Naturally lose weight (and keep it off for good)…