Portion Control at Meal Time

Obesity is a huge problem in our country. We are have an abundance of food, but much of it lacks in nutrients that are needed for optimal health. We are over fed, and undernourished. It is the over fed part that I want to address.

Our portion sizes have doubled to quadrupled in the past thirty years. During the 1970's 47% of our population were overweight or obese. That percentage has now grown to 66%. People who are obese went from 15% to 30% in the same time frame.

A slice of pizza is twice the size as it was twenty years ago. A large movie popcorn averaged 5 cups and 270 calories back then and now is more than twice the amount at 630 calories. A bagel was three inches in diameter at 140 calories, but today has grown to six inches and jumped to 350 calories.

Twenty years ago a cheeseburger was half the size of today's double or triple burgers offered at most fast food restaurants. The calorie count in these burgers have gone from 300 to 600 and beyond.

Then there are the sodas that some how went from a typical eight ounce 97 calories drink, to a whopping sixty-four ounce 775 calorie nightmare. Having a drink that gives you almost half of your daily allotment of calories, and is all non-nutritious calories, is just not a smart choice!

Here is another thing that has been super sized in the past twenty years, our plates and dishes. A dinner plate used to be the size of what we now call our salad plates. Our cups were half the size, and our bowls went from about six inches in diameter to ten inches.

Are you getting one of the reasons why Americans are so FAT? Not only are we eating non-nutritious foods, we are eating two to three times as much of them. It is not rocket science to figure out what is wrong with our way of eating. BAD foods and TOO MUCH of them.

They say you should never eat more than the size of your two fists at one sitting. I also feel you should not eat until you are stuffed. It is not a comfortable feeling to get stuffed, and is harder on your digestive system when you do that.

Leave a little food on your plate when eating. Some people believe that leaving food is wasteful. I think it's wasteful to put it into your body when you have already eaten enough. Better in the trash, not on you thighs.

So when you are putting food on your plate, or ordering from a restaurant, stick with the small portions. Without changing much else in your routine you will begin to lose the fat.

Lose the words Super Size from your vocabulary, it is unnecessary to ever use those words in regards to food or drink.


Till Tomorrow,
Queenie