Stinging prices at the gas pump and grocery store are prompting many Americans to go on a recession diet. Makes me wonder if this evolving diet will lead to a bigger or smaller pinch of fat on our waistlines.

Middle- and working-class consumers are significantly changing their consumer behaviors. Starbucks is expecting a drop in sales. Domino's Pizza, Ruby Tuesdays and higher-end steakhouses such as Ruth's Chris and Morton's are seating fewer patrons. One restaurant survey revealed the number of people ordering an alcoholic drink dropped from 42 percent last summer to 31 percent last month. Some report cutting out red meat and reaching for turkey instead. Yet the pendulum swings in a less nutritionally-healthy direction, too. Wal-Mart Stores reports higher sales of peanut butter and spaghetti.

Eating more home-cooked meals and purchasing cheaper, leaner cuts of meat could conceivably prove slimming. But I've read plenty of articles and studies citing a tight budget is a significant barrier to eating enough healthy fruits and veggies. So in an attempt to fill the gas tank, will people slap together pb&j sandwiches and twirl mounds of spaghetti or reach for the healthier rice and beans and home-cooked chicken noodle soup instead? Recession diet or not, the foods we put in our own tank ultimately impact our weight and our health.