Dieters and fast-food fans may wish they could brush it off as an exaggerated cliche.
But now scientists have proven that 'a moment on the lips' really does lead to 'a lifetime on the hips'.
Even short periods of bingeing on junk food can leave the body more prone to gain weight for years to come, they found.
Think before you binge: Scientists have proven that even short periods of bingeing on junk food can leave the body more prone to gain weight for years to come
Turning to chocolate or ice cream to help mend a broken heart could cause the waistline to bulge years later, they suggest.
Likewise, indulging in junk food to ease the stress of work or exams could have long-term consequences for weight and health.
While there has been a lot of research into how weight tends to creep up with age, this study is one of the first to deliberately 'overfeed' its subjects with junk-food - foods high in fat and sugar - and then track their progress.
Swedish researchers weighed and measured 18 slim, healthy and active men and women who were asked to almost double their calorie intake for one month.
Beware: Junk food lovers are warned that indulging may have long-term consequences on weight and health
The volunteers, aged in their early 20s, ate at least two junk-food meals a day and did very little exercise. Those in a second group were told to go about their lives as normal.
The first group gained an average of a stone over the month. Six months later, they had lost most but not all of this weight.
But two and a half years later the binge eaters were about half a stone heavier than at the start of the experiment, but the others had not put on any weight, the journal Nutrition & Metabolism reports.
Much of the extra fat was stored on the hips, giving credence to the saying, 'a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips'.
Dr Asa Ernersson, of Linkoping University in southern Sweden, said: 'The change in fat mass was larger than expected. It suggests that even short-term behavioural changes may have prolonged effects on health.'
It isn't clear why fast food binges have long-term effects but it may be that they change a person's physiology, making it harder to lose and keep off weight in the future.
It may also be that it doesn't take long to acquire a taste for fast food. It is also possible that in agreeing to take part in a study that involved over-eating, the volunteers may have been less concerned about their bodies.
The findings will be of interest to Britons, who were recently revealed as the world's biggest self-confessed junk-food addicts.
A poll for the BBC found 45 per cent of Britons 'like the taste of fast food too much to give it up', beating America's total of 44 per cent.
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