We all know the portions we are served at restaurants are way too big. We can extend that thought to realized that most of the plates (if you have moderately new dishware) are way bigger than the ones our grandma's served us on. But do you know how much bigger???
Click on over to the Portion Distortion Quiz and have a gander...
When we think about eating something, we think about eating a whole something. If I want a banana, I don't normally think about having a half of a large banana -- what I picture in my head is A (whole) BANANA.
If I want to have a bagel -- it is most likely I will eat a whole bagel -- if it is smaller, I will eat one (whole) -- if it is bigger, I will still eat one (whole).
As you can see from the Quiz -- size does matter and the difference between what was routinely served 20 years ago and the portion that we expect to see now is vastly different.
There are a couple ways to tackle this issue:
Eat a restaurants and buy food for home that are reasonable size portions -- even though it will probably cost you more for less.
Or...start thinking in smaller units. When you go to Subway, work on automatically ordering the 6 in. sub. Get proficient at order off of the children's menu when you eat fast food. Look for the smaller bagels or train yourself you to think of a bagel as a half of a bagel -- that way if you have 2 halves, you think you are having two of something (it is easier to say "not right now" to the second of something than it is to say that to the first). Get creative!
Right now, the environment we live in is not helping us. You can change your environment and how you respond to it's cues.
Being aware of hunger and fullness levels while we eat is a wonderful thing -- but we need our environment to support our efforts, too.
When eating at a restaurant, I've begun asking for a take-home container when the meal is delivered to the table. That way I can put half sandwich, burrito, or whatever the entree is out of sight. Then I have my lunch or dinner for the next day all ready.
ReplyDeleteInitially, I got a few odd looks from my family, but they don't question me about it anymore. I've found that I don't even miss that extra half that I normally would have eaten.
Isn't it strange that you get weird looks for that??
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you keep it up anyway :)
A client of mine (who eats out for business a good portion of the week) over-salts whatever portion of the food on the plate that she doesn't want to eat. That way when she is reminded to stop eating when she gets to the really salty portion.
It's all about finding something that works for you!