America's Portion Distortion
When you pile food on your plate, do you have any idea how many calories you've signed up for? Do you calculate the recommended serving size by checking out the label or back-of-box nutrient information? Or do you tend to guess?
The recommended serving sizes of certain mainstays on the family menu are often much smaller than you think, so it's easy to become oblivious to the amount of food you and your loved ones are eating. Here are eight foods with suggested serving sizes that may surprise you—plus some health consequences of such portion distortion.
Pizza
Do the math: Even the most disciplined eaters have difficulty keeping their pizza intake to one slice. But even one slice of cheese pizza may be a dietary liability. Each contains about 12 fat grams and approximately 300 calories—or more, depending on the amount and types of cheese, and the size of the slice. Cheese has a fair amount of saturated fat, which is unhealthy for the heart, says Joan Salge Blake, M.S., R.D., a clinical associate professor of nutrition at Boston University and author of the college textbook Nutrition & You (Benjamin Cummings, 2007). And, she adds, many people just nibble off the cheese and sauce and leave the crusts, so they feel less full. "It's the equivalent of eating a cheese meal," says Blake.
The fix: Have a salad before you start eating the pizza, suggests Blake, who cites research showing that eating a salad with light dressing before a meal may help you reduce the calories of the main part of your meal by about 10 percent. And, if you're eating out, she recommends you finish your salad—which probably will have helped sate your hunger—before placing your pizza order. You may then find that one slice, ideally topped with vegetables, is all you need. Making pizza at home, preferably with whole-grain dough and a generous amount of oven-roasted veggies to add flavor, is the best way to keep calories and fat low. Blake recommends you top it with a minimal amount of reduced-fat mozzarella or other cheese.
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I think Americas biggest problem is we eat too fast. I see it all the time. I eat out all the time and most of the food on this list is on my plate. I have been over weight for the majority of my life. Until the day I decided it was time for a change. I will use myself as an example. Before, I would go to a buffet and eat about 2-3 plates in about 30 mins. I would drink about 3-5 glasses of soda. Every time I would leave the restaurant, I was in pain, because I had eaten too much food. That is the reason I was getting so fat. I am 6'5" and weighted 310 lbs. Now I weight 260 lbs, it took a year, but I was not really trying very hard to lose weight either. Its more of an experiment on my behalf. I just wanted to see what would happen and to test my will power.
The first thing I did was to stop drinking sodas. You would be surprised at how much a soda will drag you do. I realize it now, because I rarely drink them anymore. The feeling of being dragged down is more than enough incentive to not drink them. I wish everyone would quit drinking sodas, coffee, or any caffeine drink for a whole month. Then after the first month, when you finally drink 1. You will understand what I mean. After I had stopped drinking sodas, then I had more "will power" or "ambition" to move around more.
The second thing I did was slow down on how fast I would eat. I did not change my diet, I changed how fast I ate. I will be honest and say the hardest thing for me to do was to leave food on the plate. Growing up I was taught to "clean my plate", now I do not care how much food is on it. I have a dog for the scraps now. LOL Once I knew how much my stomach could hold WITHOUT over eating, then the weight started falling off. I lost some weight when I quit drinking sodas, but I lost a lot of weight when I quit over eating.
The third thing has been getting out more. I do not know for sure if it is the lack of sodas (I know that is a big part) or the 30+ lbs I lost from the lack of over eating, but I get out more nowadays. I want to go out and do things. Sitting in front of the television is no longer an option for me now. I no longer come home tired from work anymore. I have energy now to keep going until bedtime.
I have only changed my diet a little as of today. I no longer desire to go and eat pizza anymore. I use to love pizza and hamburgers. I can not remember the last time I went to a fast food restaurant. I do eat more vegetables now, but for the most part, I have not changed the foods I eat. I still eat steak, I still eat bread & pasta, and I still eat ice cream.
It has been a year now since I have started my lifestyle change. I have lost over 50 lbs all together. I am sure if I start running and going to the gym I can burn off the remaining lbs. I'm going to take these little steps and relish in my accomplishments for now. Who knows, in another year I might be my ideal weight. I hope this inspires someone to stop and look at their habits. Remember the food is not going to jump off the plate and run away, so take the time and enjoy it. You will thank me later.
p.s. Some background, I do not drink alcohol, drink coffee, or eat desserts. I have always ate my foods plain i.e. hamburgers (meat & cheese only), salads without dressing, pizzas with easy sauce. It is just me, I do not like messy foods. Oh yea my job is an active one. I am a construction worker, but now I can move around with ease, without getting short of breath when I bend down and tie my boots. LOL
, I never lose weight ,from university period to my working period ,I am still keeping 50 KG all the time ,never give up to eat fat delicious food and big calories food .
Because I will take much sport eveyday ,when I walk to office ,I consume some of them ,for luch time ,I also walk to the resturant ,too. Walking and dancing make me health and keep my weight in a normal level .
So I thinkg ,expept you are very fat,please don't lose weight !
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I've lost 8 lbs since Nov just by changing my eating habits. I eat less, don't eat before I go to bed and I walk a mile or 2 every day. I put less food on my plate and eat more slowly. I don't just eat to fill the space in my stomach, I savor every bite and stop when my plate is empty. I have trained my mind to reject all sorts of unhealthy food. I don't use artificial sweetener, I use sugar but very little. My family thinks I am weird and picky. But all of us have a weight problem.
You can't convince a person who has made up their mind, that eating 2 sausage and egg mc muffins for breakfast is unhealthy. Or that drinking a gallon of nonfat milk a day is too much. Those are just examples of the unhealthy thinking of an obese person that refuses to see that what they are doing is self destructive. Healthy eating starts in the mind.
the media has made the focus on beauty, but that is not the focus. You can't tell me that those models are healthy; hell, they're photoshopped to almost unrecognizable most of the time.
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