Whether you’re trying to lose weight or not, portion control is a problem for just about every American, especially college students. From all-you-can eat cafeterias to meeting friends for drinks, food is everywhere. Adding all the temptatious pizza, bagels, fries and best of all adult beverages to the busy lifestyle of Collegiate’s it unfortunately leads many of us to overeating. Nearly two thirds of American’s today are overweight; this number has more than doubled over the past twenty years and portion size has a lot to do with it. Here are a few helpful hints about what exactly one portion size is;hopefully they will keep you from feeling blue and bloated as we head into the winter months!
Going out to dinner no longer means just having one meal, often times the servings are equal to two or three meals in one! The average size of one serving, whether it’s meat, vegetables, or a dessert is about the size of your fist. One slice of bread, ½ cup of pasta, ¼ pound hamburgers and an eight ounce soda or juice is equal to one serving. WebMD has a great list of common foods and the right serving size, as well as some helpful hints to remember them! This doesn’t mean good-bye to your favorite biggie size hamburger or fettuccine Alfredo all together; instead try saving half and eating it for lunch the next day!
If remembering serving sizes such as, one serving of meat is about three ounces, is difficult for you try some of these helpful tips. The size of your fist is an average serving of vegetables or fruit, one serving of meat, chicken or fish is the size of a deck of cards and a tennis ball is the size of one serving of ice cream. Now remembering serving sizes has never been easier!
Over the past 20 years not only has the serving size of foods increased the actual size of foods has increased as well. Foods we used to think were healthy and acceptable to eat have doubled in size thus, doubled in caloric value as well. Twenty years ago the average bagel was three inches wide and contained 140 calories on average, today’s bagels are double the size, at about six inches wide and containing up to 350 calories, this is equal to three slices of bread! Eating one bagel today is equivalent to consuming two bagels twenty years ago and that’s just one example.
If you’re a fan of fast food maybe this will change your mind; the average size of hamburgers today’s is two to five times larger than the original hamburgers offered only a few decades ago when fast food chains originated. Twenty years ago a cheeseburger contained about 330 calories total, today they contain at least 590 calories, and could contain more depending on extra toppings added such as cheese, bacon or guacamole. Bagels and hamburgers are just a few foods that have grown in size over the past twenty years; here are some other foods that have at least doubled in size too.
As the holiday season comes closer, it brings with it a plethora of delicious drinks, desserts and best of all, home cooked meals. It would be a crime not to have any of your mom’s to-die-for pumpkin pie or other delicious treats. However, that does not mean you need to eat it all. Use these helpful hints about serving sizes and you’ll feel better than ever!
article credits: http://www.overweightteen.com/statistics.html and google images