Are
you the kind of person who calculates each serving you eat? Do you
weigh each ounce of nourishment on a food scale? Most of us aren’t
that precise about our eating habits, and perhaps it is just as well.
Food is meant not only to nourish our bodies but to be enjoyed.
Still,
to manage your weight, you need to have an accurate idea of what
constitutes a serving. If you don’t pay attention to the amount of
food you eat, you can easily consume 20 to 30 percent more calories
each day than you realize. One study,
reported in the Annals
of Internal Medicine,
found that the larger the meal, the greater the underestimation of
the total calories consumed—sometimes
by as much as 38 percent. Another study
estimates 40 percent. These researchers found that the more people
eat, the more they underestimate their caloric consumption.
Labeling
of food products is helpful, but the federal government requires that
the caloric content be within only 20
percent of
the actual content. And although New York City’s Board of Health
recently introduced regulations
requiring restaurants to post the caloric content of the food served,
it did not mandate any standards for accuracy. The restaurants are on
the honor system.
Making
it harder for us to judge serving sizes is the supersizing of
portions
over the past 20 years. Here are a few dramatic comparisons in
calories resulting from the supersizing of portions:
1988
2008
Difference
Cheeseburger 330 590 260
Bagel 140 350 210
Turkey
sandwich 320 820 500
French
fries 210 610 400
Soft
drink 85 250 165
In
general, today’s food portions contain over three
times as
many calories as the portions served 20 ago. We’ve become so
accustomed to oversized, calorie-packed versions of our favorite
foods that ordinary-sized servings seem woefully skimpy and certainly
no match for our appetites. Who, for example, eats the standard
serving size— 1/2
cup or 1 scoop—of
ice cream? Aren’t we more likely to have 2 or 3 scoops?
Distinguishing
between a portion, the amount of food served,
and a serving, the measure
of caloric and nutritional content, is essential for weight
management. If you are not mindful of this distinction, you will
underestimate the total calories consumed even though you are
diligent in keeping a food journal.
The
following list of common foods, along with a few tips, will help you
gain perspective on what constitutes one serving:
1
slice bread
1/2
cup cooked grain, such as rice, oatmeal or pasta (about the size
of a cupcake wrapper)
3/4
cup cereal
1
medium potato
1/2
cup cooked vegetables (about the size
of one tennis ball)
1
cup raw leafy vegetable, such as lettuce
1/2
banana
1
cup melon or fresh berries
3/4
cup fruit juice
1/4
cup dried fruit
1
ounce meat, poultry or fish (3 ounces equals a deck
of cards)
1
ounce cheese (equals about 4 dice)
1
egg
1/2
cup beans or tofu
1/3
cup nuts
2
tablespoons nut butter, such as peanut butter
1
cup milk
1/2
cup cottage cheese
2
teaspoons oil, butter, margarine or mayonnaise
2
tablespoons regular salad dressing
4
tablespoons reduced-fat dressing
Until
you are familiar with serving sizes of various foods, it’s helpful
to use a measuring cup, tablespoon or teaspoon to measure food. This
exercise will help you gauge a normal serving size until the serving
size looks familiar to you.
Knowing
how many calories your body requires and keeping track of your food
intake are good foundations for weight management. Accuracy in
gauging serving sizes, however, is just as critical. If the numbers
on the scale aren’t moving in the right direction, keep this handy
guide in your kitchen so that you can quickly identify your serving
sizes and make corrections.
"The greatest gift that you can give yourself is a little bit of your own attention." Anthony J. D'Angelo
Recent Comments