Supersize that??

From a health article I write every month for a newsletter in my church.

*****

My mother called it "having eyes bigger than your stomach" when we took a helping of food we couldn't finish. But no matter how you dish it up, there's something fishy with portions these days and it's not always the food.

It's called "supersizing" and they've even supersized the plates to accomodate the larger portions. The standard dinner plate used to be 10 inches, now it's 12 inches.

The scary part is that our eyes and stomachs have adjusted to the inflated portions sizes in teh same way that you don't notice the growth of a child you see every day. It sneaks up on you. This is particularly hard on those of us who grew up as certified members of the clean plate club.

Once they supersized the food, the food started supersizing us. While nutritionists are battling about protein versus carbohydrates, and whether fat is really a villain, we're consuming everything in mammoth porportions.

It's been said that you are what you eat, but you are also how much you eat. Even good food is detrimental if you overindulge. Granted, chances are that no one will become obese eating apples, but then, it's not apples we tend to eat too much of. (For instance, you rarely hear anyone order a small taco with juiced and a supersized apple.)

What's worse is that our children are growing up seeing "super" size as the "normal" size. With childhood obesity well on its way to becoming a national epidemic, it's more important than ever to teach our children true portion size. We ahve the power to gain control over our portions by re-educating ourselves.

Portions are tricky. You think you know what they are until you dig out the measuring cups or start counting pieces. It can be a real shocker to find out you've been eating for two or three. But there are tricks to outsmarting the ugly portion monster.

One is to use smaller plates. This may sound simplistic, but think about it. That huge mug and large dinner plate only encourage you to tank up. I was at a friend's recently, and she offered me herbal tea, serving it in a mug the size of a small swimming pool. Great, I thought, I can do laps between sips. Normal portions in a large plate, bowl, or mug look small and make you feel dissatisfied with your meal.

Next, do the math. (umm, not do MATH, just THE math). There's no getting around this one. Look on the label and find out how much makes up a portion. Then count it out. After you do this a few times you won't need to look anymore. Your eyes will adjust to seeing the smaller amount.

I started doing this with my kid's snacks this year and we were amazed how far off we were from the portion size when we started. Even though my son is five years old, he has already begun to recognize when a portion is bigger than it should be.

When eating out, set aside anything larger than your portion and ask for it to be put in a take-home container before you begin eating. Alternatively, you can order from the children's menu or from the "light" menu that some restaurants offer which features smaller portions.

At first you may not feel satisfied after eating a meal, but given time, your stomach and mind will come to an agreement. Eventually you'll be able to say, "I can't believe I ever ate the whole thing!"

 

Train Your Eye to Accomodate Your Stomach

Here are some sample portion comparisons to help you "eyeball" your next meal:

1 serving of fresh fruit: a tennis ball

1 ounce of cheese: four dize

1/2 cup ice cream: a tennis ball

1 cup of pasta, potatoes or vegetables: your fist

1 teaspoon of peanut butter or butter: the tip of your thumb

1 ounce of nuts: a handful

 

No way do I want a handful of dize being forced out of my ass with the force of my fist and the tip of my thumb pushing down on 2 tennis balls....

 

you write a health column, turbo?

 

I don't supersize a damn thing. Nice article Turbo.

 

all joking aside... yes your information is good... its what I practice for the most part every time I try to lose weight.

1. Don't be afraid to order water in a restaurant. get your mind set on the fact that there is nothing good about soft drinks for your body. This mentality has gotten me down to 1-2 a month if that.

2. Always say - no mayo

3. Always ask for wheat bread if given the choice

4. If the restaurant is any damn good, try the bread without the butter. If you gotta eat the bread no since in adding more shit to it. You'll learn to like it plain.

5. as you say - never supersize and in addition to that, so what if you save 50 cents buy getting the value meal. Order the sandwich with water, no fries.. follow your meal with a full bottle of water and you will not be hungry.

I've got a whole list similiar to yours I try to practice when I want to lose weight. As a matter of fact, as someone else put it here the other day and I did a year or so ago... you can lose weight if you:

1. Excersice
2. Drink a ton of water
3. Eat whatever you want (in moderation - cut corners where possible)

It works for me... if I could rid myself of beer, I'd stick to the freakin plan...

 

great article turbo. here is a visual to go along with some portion sizes.

 

Chicken noodle soup anyone?

 

Your quick.

 

Yep. At my church, they figured that since I work in the health industry, I must know all about health. Little do they know.

Seriously, its just a monthly health column for our church newsletter. Nothing fancy. I'll be glad to post them on the board when I write them.