Wish you could control yourself better when that bowl of candy or pile of buffalo wings presents itself? Here's a trick to try.

Leave the evidence. Whether it's the candy wrappers on your desk, the wing bones on your dinner plate, or the empty cookie box on your kitchen counter, seeing the proof of your indulgence can help curb overeating.

Seeing Is Believing
In a study, people who went to a sports bar could eat chicken wings free of charge and to their hearts' (and stomachs') content. Servers cleared away the bones at some tables but let the bone plates pile up at others. No surprise: People ate less when evidence of their feast remained front and center.

4 More Sensible Strategies
A few other ways to stop yourself from eating more than you should:

• Eat a bit of healthy fat before a meal. (Here's how it helps with appetite control.)
• Eat three meals a day, plus several healthy snacks, so you're never ravenously hungry.
• Size up -- accurately -- what's on your plate. (This article can help retrain your eye so that sensible portions look right to you.)
• Be smart about artificial sweeteners. (In some cases, they may actually trigger overeating.)

Is there something missing from your meals? Find out by answering these questions about your diet.

Counting bones: environmental cues that decrease food intake. Wansink, B., Payne, C. R., Perceptual and Motor Skills 2007 Feb;104(1):273-276.