Portion Distortion
By John Hoeber, MS, RD

With all of the arguments about high carbohydrate diets vs. high protein diets Americans have lost focus on a very important weight loss issue - increased portion sizes. Typical serving sizes have more than doubled in the last 30 years. We’ve super-sized our foods, and our waistlines have followed suit.

“It infuriates me when people blame our obesity epidemic on the high carbohydrate load of the food pyramid,” says Lisa Young, PhD., R.D., nutrition researcher at New York University. “The bigger problem,” explains Young, “is that people have become completely oblivious to portion sizes.” A portion size for French Fries according to the Food Guide Pyramid is 10 fries, which provides about 160 calories. In the 1970’s a typical serving was 30 fries, worth 475 calories, but now a typical serving is 50 fries, which loads on 790 calories. Thirty years ago a 120 calorie 10 oz soda was the typical serving. Now fountain sodas can be 40-60 ounces packing 580 calories. If it only takes 100 extra calories per day to add 10 pounds per year, it’s no mystery why we are seeing such an increase in overweight.

The super-sizing trend continues in the home. A recent study found that between 1977 and 1998 the largest increase in serving size was seen in desserts and burgers eaten at home. It’s human nature to eat whatever sized portion is offered. In another recent study at the University of Colorado researchers served different sized servings of macaroni and cheese to study groups. The results showed that those participants given the largest portions ate 30% more calories than those given smaller portions. This happened regardless of hunger or fullness cues.

Should we resort to weighing and measuring our food? “Absolutely,” say’s NYU’s Young. We need to pay attention to portion sizes, and weighing and measuring foods for a few weeks will educate us on what is appropriate. A simple rule for servings that I use is “hand over fist:” hand sized (palm, without fingers) serving of meats, fish and poultry; fist sized serving of grains and starches. Knowing what serving size is appropriate and actually eating that way can be entirely different. There are many ways to modify our eating behaviors and get used to eating different sized servings. One way is to slow eating down; another is to pay more attention to physical hunger vs. emotional or mental hunger.

To conclude, the bottom line on weight loss is still total calories rather than total carbohydrates, proteins or fats. Paying attention to serving sizes is a requirement of all weight loss diets and should be a concern of all who want to keep their body fit and healthy.

Following is the third update on Susan Reynolds and Heather Zemansky – otherwise known as the Dynamic Duo from the Marina Times. They have stayed very dedicated to their workout plan. They spent the first six weeks focusing on basic strength and cardio workouts. They both gained a couple of pounds of muscle to increase metabolism. Heather was actually embarrassed by her new strength – opening jars for her mother, and lifting things her friends were surprised by. Lately they have gone to lighter weights and more intense cardio workouts including circuit training and one on one Kickboxing with Club Manager John Toves (J.T.). Their three-month progress check is in 2 weeks.