YOU Docs Daily
Do You Know How Much You're Eating (Really?)
When's the last time you were served a pancake the size of a CD (rather than the size of a Frisbee)? How about a scoop of low-fat frozen yogurt half the size of a tennis ball? Technically, those small portions are what a "serving size" is supposed to look like (yes, on this planet).
Don't worry -- nobody else knows what a portion looks like, either. In fact, when the American Institute for Cancer Research asked people what a serving size was for some common foods, almost no one estimated correctly. But you can, if you remember these rules:
One bag, one carton, or one tub does not equal one serving. An average bag of tortilla chips contains 13 servings . . . and about 1,820 calories (not that you should be eating them, anyway). If you "have to eat the whole bag" of anything, repackage it into single-serve (ideally, 100-calories) bags. Try these 10 super satisfying 100-calorie snacks.
Assume that everything you're served is much more than a "serving." (Except for vegetables, in which case, a decorative slice of tomato is not a serving). This is what a portion of some common foods should look like:
- 3 ounces of meat or poultry = a deck of cards or a BlackBerry
- 1 baked potato = your fist
- 1 bagel portion = the size of a small can of tuna
- 1 serving of vegetables = half a tennis ball
Savor it! Go for quality, not quantity. Cook with herbs and spices that make you want to savor what you're eating, not gulp it down in search of flavor. Try kicking up the flavor of your food with a little bit of this pungent and potentially fat-burning spice.
Have some tomorrow, too. A doggie bag is a beautiful thing. Just ask your belt.
