Interesting site on "Portion Distortion"

Darlingir

http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/portion/

Darlingir

copy and paste

bathsheba_c

There was actually a study done on portion sizes using different editions of the Joy of Cooking. Food scientists found several recipes that appear in all editions of the cookbook, and found that portion size went up dramatically around the same time people started using 12-inch dinner plates (I think it was the 1960s).

sleepyjean88

I only got 2 of those questions correct thats quite concerning!

Darlingir

crazy right?

Darlingir

There was actually a study done on portion sizes using different editions of the Joy of Cooking. Food scientists found several recipes that appear in all editions of the cookbook, and found that portion size went up dramatically around the same time people started using 12-inch dinner plates (I think it was the 1960s).

didn't know that...interesting..

emnk5308

Portioning has done so much for me! I go by serving size so much now. No fast food for me!! AT ALL =D
Thanks for posting.

txwildfire

bump

mrscapamerica

That's very crazy. I remember a few months ago before I started dieting, going to burger king and getting a soda. I was absolutely shocked by how big the "medium" was.
Doing this MFP you really become more aware of portion sizes.

Temporalia

very interesting and crazy!! I'm becoming more and more aware of portion sizing, but it's still a shock from time to time.

Vailara

Maybe it's a regional thing, but I checked some of the calories on McDonalds website, and the calorie counts seem to be off. They claim 590 calories for a cheeseburger, McDonalds say 295. They claim 610 for fries, McDonalds say 330. They say 500 for a blueberry muffin, McDonalds say 300. They claim 350 for a bagel, McDonalds say 210. I do agree that portion sizes have increased, but not quite as dramatically as they're claiming (or maybe it varies from area to area. I chose McDonalds because I thought it would be standard, but maybe not?).

ElizabethObviously

I got about half right. That is why I never clean my plate at a restaurant. They give you so much as far as portions go.

autumnk921

I got most of the answers wrong....It's crazy how much larger portions are today...I don't eat fast food except maybe 1 time per month & this is usually a couple of my sons chicken nuggets....Other than that I stay away!!

dlyeates

That is really interesting!!! That just means that the consumer needs to be that much smarter and maybe get the to go back and cut stuff in half before you start eating.

hebenn01

I hate how smalls are mediums and mediums are larges!

dhakiyya

That explains why if I go to Fridays for a cheat meal, I can only eat half of it and have to take the leftovers home and eat them the next day over 1 or 2 meals! 2-3 meals for the price of one, yay!

It's really interesting how portions have become so big. Another really useful tip is that if you eat more slowly, you enjoy the food more and feel full on less food.

SweetBasil35

Great site - thanks for sharing!

farmers_daughter

I've used this as a tool at work, showing it as a "shocker".


And as far as the eating slower thing....has never worked for me, I'm the slowest eater ever, my friends wait on me, it's embarassing, and yet my butt is still this big. lol.

LenaMena87

Wow this is badass!!!!!!! PPL need to look at this!

Diana35bha

very interesting!

I got 4 lots of cals correct but not how long it took to burn them off LOL

mfpcopine

There was actually a study done on portion sizes using different editions of the Joy of Cooking. Food scientists found several recipes that appear in all editions of the cookbook, and found that portion size went up dramatically around the same time people started using 12-inch dinner plates (I think it was the 1960s).

A recent article in the New York Times attributed part of the reason to food becoming cheaper in the U.S. in the 1970s, which led people to buy more food and to dine out more. Restaurants have notoriously increased portion sizes.

paeli

Goodness... I've been astonished by the sizes of things as recently Tim Horton's (a coffee/donut shop here) changed their coffee sizing to make everything BIGGER. So the "Small" is now the cup size of an old "Medium", "Medium" became the size of an old "Large", etc etc. It's impossible to order, haha. At least they're transparent about modifying their cup sizes, it's just weird! We don't need more! Gigantic "Big Gulp" drinks, etc. are just OUT OF CONTROL.

Brandysaur

I think the frame of reference they use is "regular" sized items- Like a Whopper and regular fries. The Mc. Donalds cheeseburger (not big mac, 1/4 pounder, etc ) are pretty small.

StrongerJess

There is a great book called "The Portion Teller" that shows how much serving sizes have increased and how it has affected every other aspect of marketing as a result. For example, they started marketing bigger plates and then had to start selling larger dishwashers to fit the plates. When they re-did the Yankee stadium, it went from fitting 88,000 people to 49,000. It's a pretty good read. Thanks for sharing that link.

Fit4Evolution

well i know the portions have increased , but some of these numbers seemed to be scewed to scare you.. def not accurate 100% but the concepts is correct , we get a lot more food. we eat out more and the DIET on anything is very misleading , so is NO FAT or NO SUGAR ADDED

ElizabethRoad

It's really useless to say that "a cheeseburger" has 590 calories when you don't give any idea how big the cheeseburger is.

jolarocknrolla

I went to a local restaurant about 2 months ago and ordered a pasta dish that was EASILY 8 servings - seriously, there was no way I could have eaten half of it and I can put food away like a champ. I took the rest home in a big box and had 2 more meals out of it and had to finally throw the rest away.

I wasn't born in the USA, I actually came from a once-communist country and when we came to the USA we used to take pictures in the grocery stores showing off all the food. When i have guests in from other European countries they LOVE to take pictures of crazy American portions at restaurants.

HeHealsMe

Bump for later..gotta go work out now..:bigsmile:

Sharyn913

I think that overall, the point of portions getting bigger is absolutely correct.

I think a lot of their numbers are off.

One of the reasons I got so fat was because I ate A LOT of the stuff they mentioned, and a lot of restaurant eating. I have a pretty good idea of calorie content.... but I think a lot of their numbers are off. And than the questions about how long it will take you to burn off the remaining calories switches back and forth between "based on a 130lb person" versus 160. Those numbers seem to be inaccurate as well.

sexforjaffacakes

It's really useless to say that "a cheeseburger" has 590 calories when you don't give any idea how big the cheeseburger is.

or, comparing a plain coffee to a mocha...

2hmom

We were in a family type restaurant,they served breakfast on platters!