Are Your Portions Out of Control?
Portion sizes have grown dramatically over the past two decades. The “bigger-is-better” mentality has taken the food industry by storm and consumers are readily buying into it because of perceived value. Check out how food companies have "super sized" your food and how you can effectively reduce your consumption...
Pizza pies were 10 inches in diameter back in the 1970s. Today the average size for a pizza is between 16 and 18 inches!
A Hershey chocolate bar weighed 0.6 ounces its first year on the market. The standard bar now weighs 1.6 ounces. That’s almost 3 times its original weight!
Even diet food has grown in size. During the 1990s, Weight Watchers introduced their Smart Ones frozen meals with larger portion sizes. Lean Cuisine offered Hearty Portions, with 100 more calories than the original meal.
The most popular burger restaurants have increased the size of their hamburgers. The original Burger King burger weighed in at 3.9 ounces, and today a Double Whopper is 12.6 ounces. McDonald’s original patty started out at 1.6 ounces, and now the Double Quarter Pounder is 8 ounces -- that’s five times more meat!
Starbucks once offered the “short” cup of coffee at 8 ounces, but it is no longer on the menu. The smallest cup you can order is the “tall.” At 12 ounces, this cup is nearly twice the size of what was once considered a regular cup of coffee.
You may think “more is better,” but, the American waistline and increase in diabetes and other health issues indicates the opposite. Bigger portions mean we eat more than we need. When a larger portion is placed in front of us, we tend to eat 30% to 50% more, perhaps not even recognizing this is the case. Here are some staggering statistics:
Women ate 31% more and men ate 56% more when served a 12-inch sub sandwich instead of a 6-inch sandwich.
When cooking, people poured 4.3 ounces of oil from a 32-ounce bottle, but only 3.5 ounces from a 16-ounce bottle.
Moviegoers ate 61% more popcorn when given the larger container than they did with a small size.
Snackers poured about twice as many M&Ms from a jumbo bag (103) than they did when given a smaller package (63)
How much should you be eating?
We are all different sizes and no one carries around a scale or measuring cups. But, most of us have our hands with us at all times. Your hands should be in proportion to your natural body size, making them a great tool for measuring.
As a general rule of thumb, strive for a palm-sized portion of protein, a hand full of quality carbohydrates, and two hands full of vegetables at every meal. Fruit should be consumed as a snack in between meals.
PROTEIN VEGETABLES CARBS
If you are consuming more than this, slowly pare down by cutting an inch off protein (like chicken or steak) or taking a tablespoon full off carbohydrates (like rice and pasta). Do this for a couple of weeks and then take another inch or spoon full off. Continue this process until you reach your desired portion sizes.
If you are not consuming enough of one food group, add them in as snacks in between meals. For example, for more protein, have some nuts or a protein shake. For vegetables, have some snap peas or baby carrots. Fruit works well for carbohydrates. However, sometimes you may feel as if you have low energy and may need some whole grains, like brown rice or quinoa as a snack.
By managing your portions, you can release excess weight and/or manage your ideal weight, allowing for good health and vitality.
