Did you ever consider this? Your environment encourages you to eat too much food.

Everything from a nice, cozy atmosphere to big helpings to the way food is arranged on a plate all contribute to Americans' penchant to overeat, reports the Harvard Health Letter. Of course, most of us are very concerned about what we eat and the specific ingredients we consume--from fat to carbs and sugar to salt. But maybe there's more to it than that.

We bash fast food as being unhealthy, but unhurried, leisurely meals around a comfortable table with good conversation just encourage us to linger over the food. Before you know it, you've had two glasses of wine, seconds on potatoes, and a yummy dessert.

Researchers at Georgia State University in Atlanta have found that when people eat with others, they consume 44 percent more food than when they eat alone, reports the Harvard Health Letter. We also tend to consume greater quantities of food when we eat with our spouses, family members, and friends than we do when we're with strangers.

The Harvard Health Letter offers these five tips--all of which are small but can have a big impact--for controlling how much you eat.

1. Move on
When you dine out at a restaurant, plan in advance to have your after-dinner coffee elsewhere. That way, you won't be tempted to order dessert.

2. Play hard to get
When you get home from the grocery store, put the most tempting--and fattening--foods high in the pantry, the back of the refrigerator, or other inconvenient spots.

3. Downsize
Small containers or plates are better than a large ones because it's easier to stop eating. Never eat directly out of a large package. Try using a luncheon plate for dinner and see if it helps you to eat less.

4. Plan ahead
Decide in advance how much you're going to eat before an event. Then you have to shore up your self-discipline and stick to that plan!

5. Keep it the same
Don't put out too many varieties of food. This will just tempt you to sample each one, and in the end you'll eat a lot more than you would if you had fewer choices.