People cannot visualize reasonable portion sizes

fitoverfortymom

I've been on both sides of this coin. At my heaviest, I couldn't imagine not filling my plate with a bunch of potluck goodies. I didn't understand after first joining MFP that someone could just have Greek yogurt and fruit for lunch. That's not a meal--that's an appetizer!

People don't tend to comment on what I eat any more, and it's not that I don't ever overeat because sometimes I do. I just don't do it every day like I used to (like the days when breakfast, lunch, and dinner were all from the drive thru).

pinuplove

I can eat the portion sizes I want and maintain my weight easily. Problem is, the weight I maintain while doing it is 50 pounds more than is healthy for me

VUA21

All the time.

I get the question of why am I eating so little. Yet, what I am eating is an adult portion size.

clicketykeys

psychod787 wrote: »

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

Some years ago I had a revelatory conversation with an obese co-worker. Both he and his wife were obese and waddled on land like walruses. He, particularly, had ruined his ankles with the abuse of walking on them. He told me that he focused his restaurant food choices on getting the most calories possible for the fewest dollars necessary. It turns out, that is the mental calculation made by lab monkeys, too. Primates want the greatest reward possible for the least effort necessary. As global food production has incessantly grown to exceed the rate of population growth, more and more people around the planet are finding it possible to get more cheap food than they need for survival. The unconscious choice many people make to maximise their food reward for their effort or money expended is the ultimate root cause of the global increase in rates of obesity.

"The struggle is real" isn't just a meme. It's not just the body. It's the brain. The executive brain has to overcome the reflexive brain. Portioning properly has to be learned and is a lesson which runs counter to our natural tendencies. It is hard.

Spot on my man! I think it was Winton Churchill that said, " why run when you can walk? Why walk when you can stand? Why stand when you can lounge? Why lounge when you can sleep?" I think we are the same way. I get the exact opposite at work. I often take in 2 lunch bags with my food. People are like, are you going to eat all that? Well... my quinoa, veggie, avacado, lean protein plates take up a lot of space. When you eat a Hungry man dinner that's 900 cals for 225 grams, it's a small package. I start to talk about caloric density.... blank stare. At office parties same thing. If I eat small amounts of stuff, I get made fun of because they all tell me I am afraid of "good" food. Oh well.

To Winston Churchill, I respond with Warren Zevon: "I'll sleep when I'm dead." I run so that I can be stronger and faster and do more and live longer and do even MORE. There are too many interesting things in the world and I want to miss out on as few of them as possible.

(I do sleep, mind you! ;D)

jjpptt2

I wonder how many of those people actually care, though. How many people want to lose weight, but not badly enough to actually control their intake? I fall into that category quite often. I wonder how many of those people, if you simply asked them what they thought a reasonable, healthy, serving size was... I wonder how close those people would be.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is this - are their portions that big because they don't know or because they don't care?

flippy1234

jjpptt2 wrote: »

I wonder how many of those people actually care, though. How many people want to lose weight, but not badly enough to actually control their intake? I fall into that category quite often. I wonder how many of those people, if you simply asked them what they thought a reasonable, healthy, serving size was... I wonder how close those people would be.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is this - are their portions that big because they don't know or because they don't care?

Both. I have a sister who is huge. She is much younger than me. I doubt she knows what a proper serving size is and she just doesn't care. Her husband and kids are obese too. Don't they want to be healthy? I just don't get it.

DomesticKat

Probably 5 or 6 years ago at least, most likely longer, I distinctly remember having a conversation with a close friend about calorie reduction for weight loss. I completely balked at the idea of reducing calories because I KNEW I was only eating 1500 calories and as a grown, active woman there was no way I could eat less. It was totally unacceptable to me that I would have to make a concerted effort to eat less than I was and clearly there was something wrong with me and I just couldn't lose weight.

Nope. Denial. I just refused to see that I was eating too much. I refused to acknowledge all the mindless bites and snacks I was eating during the day on top of regular meals because it was a habit.

I reminded her of that conversation a few months ago when weight loss came up again and totally admitted that I was full of *kitten* then. Some of us get so stuck in our own way that we will see what we want to see until we have no choice but to admit how full of *kitten* we are and really pay attention to what we're eating.

garystrickland357

jjpptt2 wrote: »

I wonder how many of those people actually care, though. How many people want to lose weight, but not badly enough to actually control their intake? I fall into that category quite often. I wonder how many of those people, if you simply asked them what they thought a reasonable, healthy, serving size was... I wonder how close those people would be.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is this - are their portions that big because they don't know or because they don't care?

My take on the situation was it might be either case. I just observed that the coworker i was talking to thought I had plated a "diet" sized portion of food when it was in fact quite a generous portion from my point of view. I feel they just don't actually know how many calories they are consuming.

PapillonNoire

jjpptt2 wrote: »

I wonder how many of those people actually care, though. How many people want to lose weight, but not badly enough to actually control their intake? I fall into that category quite often. I wonder how many of those people, if you simply asked them what they thought a reasonable, healthy, serving size was... I wonder how close those people would be.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is this - are their portions that big because they don't know or because they don't care?

I fall into this category as well. I want to lose 5 vanity pounds...but not as much as I want that extra slice of pizza or second cookie.

emcclure013

I can't help but be judgy sometimes at the lunch table at work. I get comments all the time on how, "you're always so good" and everybody has an excuse for why they can't do the same. We have a lovely cafeteria that serves huge portions of comfort food for cheap, and many of my coworkers buy it daily. There are always comments about how the portions are too big and how they always give too much, yet most everyone always clears their plates. The diet woo is fierce here as well. Someone is always trying some new trend or gimmick and telling everyone else to try it too! If I had a dollar for every time someone crashed and burned on a super restrictive diet I'd have many dollars.

manderson27

I have a friend (who I love to bits) she wants to lose weight. I have tried to explain that until you know how many calories you are eating you can't work out how many you need to cut to lose weight. She then lists what she had that day and how healthy it was but she just doesn't understand that you can overeat on any foods unless you know the calorie count.

Recently she was at my house and weighed herself. (1st step to being honest with yourself) Her guesstimate was 224 pounds she was actually 257 pounds. She though my scale was wrong so I put my 12kg weights on it to show it was accurate. She was horrified but I don't think even this has given her the kick to start weighing and measuring portions.

No one wants to hear that you need to count calories accurately to lose weight. Portion size is another one that people don't want to have to deal with. Bad habits are incredibly hard to break.

I am hoping she will take some sensible steps to lose some weight because I love her and want her around for a long time.

clicketykeys

DomesticKat wrote: »

Probably 5 or 6 years ago at least, most likely longer, I distinctly remember having a conversation with a close friend about calorie reduction for weight loss. I completely balked at the idea of reducing calories because I KNEW I was only eating 1500 calories and as a grown, active woman there was no way I could eat less. It was totally unacceptable to me that I would have to make a concerted effort to eat less than I was and clearly there was something wrong with me and I just couldn't lose weight.

Nope. Denial. I just refused to see that I was eating too much. I refused to acknowledge all the mindless bites and snacks I was eating during the day on top of regular meals because it was a habit.

I reminded her of that conversation a few months ago when weight loss came up again and totally admitted that I was full of *kitten* then. Some of us get so stuck in our own way that we will see what we want to see until we have no choice but to admit how full of *kitten* we are and really pay attention to what we're eating.

What did she say??

DomesticKat

clicketykeys wrote: »

DomesticKat wrote: »

Probably 5 or 6 years ago at least, most likely longer, I distinctly remember having a conversation with a close friend about calorie reduction for weight loss. I completely balked at the idea of reducing calories because I KNEW I was only eating 1500 calories and as a grown, active woman there was no way I could eat less. It was totally unacceptable to me that I would have to make a concerted effort to eat less than I was and clearly there was something wrong with me and I just couldn't lose weight.

Nope. Denial. I just refused to see that I was eating too much. I refused to acknowledge all the mindless bites and snacks I was eating during the day on top of regular meals because it was a habit.

I reminded her of that conversation a few months ago when weight loss came up again and totally admitted that I was full of *kitten* then. Some of us get so stuck in our own way that we will see what we want to see until we have no choice but to admit how full of *kitten* we are and really pay attention to what we're eating.

What did she say??

We laughed about it. I expressed humility and joked about what an idiot I was and how I should have acknowledged what I know now years ago and saved myself many years of struggle.

Dove0804

Yes, I think the misjudging of portions is a huge issue and is very much a cultural thing. Portions in restaurants get bigger and bigger, it becomes the norm to bring massive amounts of food in to work or a party, and our plates are much larger than they really should be. It's very hard to know how much is appropriate to eat when every aspect of our food culture is saying "here- this is your portion and this is normal" when it's not. Food is abundantly available wherever we go, and there is less respect for food as a result.

However, I do not judge others for what they order in Starbucks or buy at the grocery store, and I hope whoever commented that takes a good, hard look at themselves. There is no superiority to be found there.

New_Heavens_Earth

Hubby learned a valuable lesson about peanut butter. He was proud of having peanut butter and carrots for dinner. Sounded good to me, but he doesn't weigh, measure, or count anything. I asked him how much PB he used. He said "I don't know I just dip and scoop it". I showed him the nutrition label and the serving size and asked him to estimate. All he did was shrug and shake his head. I looked, about a quarter of a new jar was gone.

I'm just saying that some people think healthy food means unlimited portions. There's a portion size for everything, and the halo effect is real.

Panini911

I STILL have trouble getting my mind around portions. my latest discovery is my "portion of chicken breast" was actually at least 1.5 portions. I am measuring more carefully but when i grab my chicken portion I almost want to cry (but I am going mind over matter on this one) as it is so small.

For the reward I am a volume eater. So my plate is generally jam packed with veggies either raw or cooked without added fat. Because I need to EAT!

a portion of ice cream is a joke for me. so I DO eat the low cal stuff, cuz to me, quantity matters.

psychod787

clicketykeys wrote: »

psychod787 wrote: »

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

Some years ago I had a revelatory conversation with an obese co-worker. Both he and his wife were obese and waddled on land like walruses. He, particularly, had ruined his ankles with the abuse of walking on them. He told me that he focused his restaurant food choices on getting the most calories possible for the fewest dollars necessary. It turns out, that is the mental calculation made by lab monkeys, too. Primates want the greatest reward possible for the least effort necessary. As global food production has incessantly grown to exceed the rate of population growth, more and more people around the planet are finding it possible to get more cheap food than they need for survival. The unconscious choice many people make to maximise their food reward for their effort or money expended is the ultimate root cause of the global increase in rates of obesity.

"The struggle is real" isn't just a meme. It's not just the body. It's the brain. The executive brain has to overcome the reflexive brain. Portioning properly has to be learned and is a lesson which runs counter to our natural tendencies. It is hard.

Spot on my man! I think it was Winton Churchill that said, " why run when you can walk? Why walk when you can stand? Why stand when you can lounge? Why lounge when you can sleep?" I think we are the same way. I get the exact opposite at work. I often take in 2 lunch bags with my food. People are like, are you going to eat all that? Well... my quinoa, veggie, avacado, lean protein plates take up a lot of space. When you eat a Hungry man dinner that's 900 cals for 225 grams, it's a small package. I start to talk about caloric density.... blank stare. At office parties same thing. If I eat small amounts of stuff, I get made fun of because they all tell me I am afraid of "good" food. Oh well.

To Winston Churchill, I respond with Warren Zevon: "I'll sleep when I'm dead." I run so that I can be stronger and faster and do more and live longer and do even MORE. There are too many interesting things in the world and I want to miss out on as few of them as possible.

(I do sleep, mind you! ;D)

I was going to say... send lawyers, guns, and money, but i live in the southern states. We have plenty of lawyers and guns, but I will take some money! Lol

sunfastrose

I see some cruelty in the posts here - specifically to how some of the people are referred to. I think all of us here were in their shoes before and it is good that now we are not.

psychod787

sunfastrose wrote: »

I see some cruelty in the posts here - specifically to how some of the people are referred to. I think all of us here were in their shoes before and it is good that now we are not.

I will refer to no one bad, just dont ask me about weight loss... i am no expert btw, just a dude trying to make his way, and then bad talk me. I know some of it is meant to be in good fun, but it can hurt as well....