At the buffet, don't eat all you can

Stir-fried rice. Kung Pao chicken. Pot stickers. Makes your mouth water, doesn't it?

Exercising willpower at an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet isn't easy, but a few simple changes in behavior - such as sitting farther away from the food and eating with chopsticks ­- could put the brakes on overeating.

Researchers observed 213 diners at Chinese restaurant buffets and found overweight people sat an average of 16 feet closer to the buffet, faced the food and starting serving themselves immediately rather than browsing the selections first. Only 9 percent of overweight people used chopsticks, compared to 24 percent of normal-weight diners. The study was published in the journal Obesity.

"When food is more convenient, people tend to eat more," said researcher Collin R. Payne of New Mexico State University. "These seemingly subtle differences in behavior and environment may cause people to overeat without even realizing it."

Think pink:

Singer-actress Olivia Newton-John calls herself a "breast cancer 'thriver.'" Diagnosed in 1992 and cancer-free, she's teaming up with the fitness franchise Curves to promote early detection. Liv Aid is a flat, heart-shaped pad that makes a woman's fingers glide more smoothly over her breast, making it easier to feel small abnormalities.

Curves locations in Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect are supporting breast cancer awareness with "Girls Night In" parties from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, at 683 N. Wolf Road, Des Plaines, and Thursday, Oct. 30, at 59 W. Golf Road, Arlington Heights. The $10 donation helps support research. For details or to find out how to get a free Liv Aid breast self-exam kit, call (847) 357-9900 or (847) 803-8900.

Nationwide, Curves hopes to distribute 1 million Liv Aid devices to women this month. For more information on programs at other Curves locations and Liv Aid, visit curves.com and liv.com.

What were once vices:

There's good news for those who like to start the day with a cup of coffee and end it with a glass of red wine.

"Drunk black and bitter, coffee is a calorie-free beverage brimming with antioxidants," Harvard Heart Letter reports. "It eases artery-damaging inflammation and delivers a host of substances that help the body regulate blood sugar and dissolve gallstones." Women who drink two to three cups of regular coffee daily have a 25 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, according to a study tracking the habits of 100,000 adults.

Red wine is loaded with antioxidants, too, that may protect against lung cancer, according to a study reported by the American Association for Cancer Research. Male smokers who drank one to two glasses of red wine a day had a 60 percent reduced lung cancer risk (but still much higher than a nonsmoker's).

Of course, quitting smoking is the best way to reduce lung cancer risk. And sorry, coffee drinkers, nobody is touting health benefits for whipped cream or syrupy flavor shots.