Though eating out or getting takeout is convenient, it tends to make weight control more difficult.

When eating out you have less control over what you eat, how it's cooked, and how big the serving size is, than when preparing food yourself. Restaurants naturally want their food to taste good and, as the saying goes, "fat is flavor", so even a simple dish like pasta with tomato sauce is likely to have more oil than it would if you made it.

Often people eat out when they are rushed for time, don't like to cook, or are not organized with the right ingredients. If this is true for you, find a few easy recipes that you can cook when in a hurry and take some time to organize your fridge and pantry with ingredient staples like:

• Bagged salads

• Pre-chopped mixed vegetables

• Ready-marinated meat or fish that you just need to bake or microwave

• Frozen low-fat bean burritos

• Frozen brown rice

• "Healthy choice" type frozen meals

• Frozen soy or turkey meatballs

• Canned or boxed soup (not cream-based)

• Whole-grain bread

• Frozen fish, poultry and meat

• Brown rice

• Couscous

• Whole-wheat pasta

• Whole-grain bread and crackers

• Herbs and spices

• Curry pastes

• Pestos

• Canned tomatoes

• Tomato/marinara sauce

• Beans

• Seeds and nuts

• Canned tuna and salmon

• Fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables

It's easy to make super-fast meals with basic ingredients like these.

Next time you go shopping, keep an eye out for other ideas that you can try as an alternative to take-out or eating out.