Has anyone else suddenly become aware of how large most portion sizes are?

Cbean08

ladyhusker39 wrote: »

vingogly wrote: »

The Olive Garden ads on TV seem to be based on the belief that Italians (or at least those living in Olive Garden Land) eat huge portions of food including obscene amounts of meat and cheese. It's a twisted American view of what the Mediterranean diet is about, and what we need to be satisfied.

Restaurants used to refer to 6 oz steaks as "Ladies' portions" or "petite" steaks. This creates the impression that Manly Men should go for the big stuff - because there is such a thing as Man Food as recent Nutrisystem ads for men suggest.

There's nothing wrong with getting an appetizer and a cup of soup or salad and leaving it at that. You have to filter out all this consume consume consume messaging flying at you and do what you know is good for you. And also forget any programming you have from childhood about the Empty Plate Club, and learn how to read your bodily cues for hunger and satiety.

It takes 20 minutes for your brain to get the message that you've eaten enough. That's why eating slowly or eating half then waiting for a while are important strategies. As one book I've read pointed out (I think it was Intuitive Eating), you can always go back and have some more if you really want it.

This is one of my biggest challenges. I get extremely stressed if I don't eat every bite on my plate regardless of how much I started with.

I've been thinking about focusing on this one habit for a while and see if I can break it over the next few months.

Use a bread plate then. Think that the plate that the restaurant served to you is the family portion that you'd pass around a dinner table. Take your part off that plate and put it onto a smaller bread plate. That is your portion. The rest is to go.

mutantspicy

Salads can be tricky too! Once you start adding all the craysins, croutons, dressings, oils, seeds, feta, olives, etc. They load up with calories quick. A lot of people think if you eat your soup and salad first you will fill up and not eat as much of the meal. Well often if you eat that soup and salad thats an entire meals worth of calories right there.

Lounmoun

MrSJWinship wrote: »

I am Large, I have already lost 60 pounds and have much more to go. Recently I remembered a tip my mother gave me years ago, that if I Eat really slow and take smaller bites I will eat less. And she was right!, I take way longer to eat a meal and feel much more full before I'm done. And now I realize that most meals I've had are way too much. It kind of scares me. Am I alone? and is it bad that I'm now kind of afraid of eating too much? I don't want to develop a complex or disorder.

I noticed that portions of high calorie foods were often oversized. It is pretty rare to get giant portions of low calorie vegetable dishes.
I'm not scared to eat too much. I log and prelog. I use my food scale to help me. I cook and eat food from home for most of my meals. I eat out 1 meal a week and look up nutritional info and make the best choices I can. I am not 100% accurate. The worst that ever happens really is I maintain and need to increase my accuracy a bit.
It takes time to change and learn what is the right amount for you of different foods. You don't have to be perfect to lose weight. Make informed mindful choices where you can but don't be scared to eat.

amyteacake

I realised this when I started to lose weight and learned about portion sizes. It was also when - the other day actually - I bought something that I used to eat before I started to lose weight and I couldn't finish it when I used to be able to finish it easily. I struggled to even get half way.

mbaker566

I feel like portions are small. 2 oreos are a serving? 1 cookie or poptart in a package of 2. etc. 1 cup of ice cream

CarvedTones

MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »

I became aware after getting my food scale. If you don't have one, get one. 100% worth the money.

Another "Me too" though I had heard it said often I didn't realize how much. I look at the side of cereal boxes, even sweet kids' cereals, and think "how can that be so bad?" and then pour some in a bowl on a scale and realize exactly how it can be so bad.

ryenday

I’m no longer overweight by any measure but I could easily have that 12 oz steak. With beef, I have to strictly control myself- and I never eat steak (or beef unless it is a very good hamburger) out. Way too expensive and I don’t need the butter/oil calories that come from eating restaurant prepared steak.

I still eat quite large portions for someone my size. But I don’t eat anything I don’t love anymore unless I need the nutritional value (my 5 servings of veggies are mandatory each day even though I don’t like them much).

BUT I leave the bread, rice, pasta, salad dressing, and desert alone. I don’t care for any of those enough to give up an extra ounce of steak for them. Now I have to be very careful with potatoes and butter (my kryptonite) but again, I usually save potatoes for home cooked meals so I can control the portion more easily.

When I eat out, now, I go as plain as possible. Chicken or turkey with the least dressing/ sauce I can find. Salad, with oil and vinegar on the side. I can usually find something at a nice restaurant. I miss the taste of fried fast food but not how it made me feel or how I always wanted more.

JaydedMiss

I dont eat out really ever and this is why, I eat every bit of food i have. I was born without the ability to feel full (seriously) Mixed with a moderation issue ... So when i get around hyperpalatable foods i eat it all. And then likely other things lol. Its quite sad though now that im aware from weighing my food to see just how huge restaurant meals are. And sadly things like yummy fries vs yummy broccoli, You get WAY more fries.

bbell1985

No. I can eat so much. I really can order for 3 and eat it all even with large portions.

Francl27

mutantspicy wrote: »

Salads can be tricky too! Once you start adding all the craysins, croutons, dressings, oils, seeds, feta, olives, etc. They load up with calories quick. A lot of people think if you eat your soup and salad first you will fill up and not eat as much of the meal. Well often if you eat that soup and salad thats an entire meals worth of calories right there.

Yep, soup and salad and bread and you probably have 500 calories worth already, lol.

That being said, feta isn't too bad calorie-wise because it has a lot of flavor and you don't need as much though... Mozzarella though... I made myself a tomato mozzarella salad the other day (no oil) and it came out to 300 calories for just 3 slices of mozzarella... In restaurants you get more than that, plus oil, and it's typically considered an appetizer.

It's kinda funny though, when I compare sandwiches and crepes too... Here in the US they are STUFFED with stuff, so much in fact that I have yet to find a place selling crepes that I like, because you can't even taste the crepe anyway. In France, there is just less filling overall, so you actually taste the bread/crepe (same for pizzas, much less toppings over there than here). Can't say how much it filled me in comparison though, I can eat a huge burrito or a huge sandwich and still be hungry...

Maybe it's not so much portion sizes as the fact that overall, we just don't move enough. My sedentary calories are pathetic and nowhere enough to satisfy me, for example. I'd still be obese if I wasn't so active.

MrSJWinship

CarvedTones wrote: »

MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »

I became aware after getting my food scale. If you don't have one, get one. 100% worth the money.

Another "Me too" though I had heard it said often I didn't realize how much. I look at the side of cereal boxes, even sweet kids' cereals, and think "how can that be so bad?" and then pour some in a bowl on a scale and realize exactly how it can be so bad.

whats funny is how little a cereal portion should be compared to what ive been eating for years. the Average family Bowl people have in their cupboards was what i thought they meant by a Bowl of Cereal and commercials showed as much but then i realize just how many calories that was was insane! lol. I dont buy cereal as i realize Oatmeal is just easier and already portioned.

MadisonMolly2017

Cbean08 wrote: »

ladyhusker39 wrote: »

vingogly wrote: »

Use a bread plate then. Think that the plate that the restaurant served to you is the family portion that you'd pass around a dinner table. Take your part off that plate and put it onto a smaller bread plate. That is your portion. The rest is to go.

Wow, thank you! I will do this if I ever eat out again...I don’t as that’s my addiction AND I limit my sodium to 1500 mg a day... I use a salad plate at home all the time so it feels like a regular plate now!

MadisonMolly2017

JaydedMiss wrote: »

I dont eat out really ever and this is why, I eat every bit of food i have. I was born without the ability to feel full (seriously) Mixed with a moderation issue ... So when i get around hyperpalatable foods i eat it all. And then likely other things lol. Its quite sad though now that im aware from weighing my food to see just how huge restaurant meals are. And sadly things like yummy fries vs yummy broccoli, You get WAY more fries.

This. Me too. We are not alone.

seltzermint555

mutantspicy wrote: »

It goes both ways. Once I started weighing and measuring food. I surprised by how many vegetables you can eat at minimal calories. It was like, How can I possibly fit all of that in my stomach. I was surprised similarly by lentils and couscous.

I agree with this. While generally portion sizes are a bit smaller than I expect, there are plenty of exceptions too. Pasta is the biggest surprise for me. Growing up I always heard how pasta was so terrible for you and so fattening, I guess I figured a serving of pasta was going to be tiny. It seems like a lot when I am eating an exact portion of rotini, spaghetti, etc.

kelly_c_77

JaydedMiss wrote: »

I dont eat out really ever and this is why, I eat every bit of food i have. I was born without the ability to feel full (seriously) Mixed with a moderation issue ... So when i get around hyperpalatable foods i eat it all. And then likely other things lol. Its quite sad though now that im aware from weighing my food to see just how huge restaurant meals are. And sadly things like yummy fries vs yummy broccoli, You get WAY more fries.

I'm the same way.
I don't eat out often because I. Will. Eat. It. All. And then come home and want more food. I have no "off" button. I can really pack away some seriously large amounts of food..it can be quite horrifying to others.

ladyhusker39

Cbean08 wrote: »

ladyhusker39 wrote: »

vingogly wrote: »

The Olive Garden ads on TV seem to be based on the belief that Italians (or at least those living in Olive Garden Land) eat huge portions of food including obscene amounts of meat and cheese. It's a twisted American view of what the Mediterranean diet is about, and what we need to be satisfied.

Restaurants used to refer to 6 oz steaks as "Ladies' portions" or "petite" steaks. This creates the impression that Manly Men should go for the big stuff - because there is such a thing as Man Food as recent Nutrisystem ads for men suggest.

There's nothing wrong with getting an appetizer and a cup of soup or salad and leaving it at that. You have to filter out all this consume consume consume messaging flying at you and do what you know is good for you. And also forget any programming you have from childhood about the Empty Plate Club, and learn how to read your bodily cues for hunger and satiety.

It takes 20 minutes for your brain to get the message that you've eaten enough. That's why eating slowly or eating half then waiting for a while are important strategies. As one book I've read pointed out (I think it was Intuitive Eating), you can always go back and have some more if you really want it.

This is one of my biggest challenges. I get extremely stressed if I don't eat every bite on my plate regardless of how much I started with.

I've been thinking about focusing on this one habit for a while and see if I can break it over the next few months.

Use a bread plate then. Think that the plate that the restaurant served to you is the family portion that you'd pass around a dinner table. Take your part off that plate and put it onto a smaller bread plate. That is your portion. The rest is to go.

Thanks for the idea. I've actually been doing that lately because the kids already use that size anyway. I don't seem to have a much trouble eating out because I decided those are not single person portions, like you suggest. It really is a nasty mind game.

mutantspicy

Francl27 wrote: »

Maybe it's not so much portion sizes as the fact that overall, we just don't move enough. My sedentary calories are pathetic and nowhere enough to satisfy me, for example. I'd still be obese if I wasn't so active.

There's something to this for sure. Once per year I go to Denver Co for the GABF . Great American Beer Festival and that city has more breweries per square mile than I've seen anywhere. Which they all do special event for the festival. Meanwhile we'll basically drink from breakfast til dinner but walk at least 8 miles a day at elevation. Go to a pub have an appetizer and a beer sampler walk to the next one. Rinse wash and repeat, somehow come out of it feeling pretty great.

lucerorojo

Go to a French restaurant! Unless it is the country French type (usually cheaper), the portion will be small!