Intrinsic Health Source BLOG: Jeannine's Journal: On the SEVENTH day of wellness my blogger gave to me... "a tip on healthy dining"

On the SEVENTH day of wellness my blogger gave to me... "a tip on healthy dining"

                                            Today's Tip (Day 7):
"Better think twice, check out what's good and what's YIKES!"

On the go? Think twice before heading out for that convienent AND oversized meal. Did you realize that most of our serving sizes are double the portion size you should be consuming? Get this....picking up a deli style turkey sandwich can actually be up to 820 calories!

What is a Portion Size?
We have all heard the phrase "supersize it". BUT the truth is each one of us are usually "supersizing" our meals. WHAT? YES! Unfortunatley, most portions that are "served" to us are usually a serving for two. Therefore, what we consider "normal" and "one serving" is actually a double serving. YIKES!!!!

Over the last 20 years, our perception of a serving size has been skewed by the food industry's offerings. Think about when you order a cup of coffee from Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. Twenty years ago, if you went to a coffee shop, you were given one choice, an eight ounce cup of coffee. Today most of us are ordering 12, 16 and some even 24 -32 ounce coffees to go. Now how about a bagel with that coffee? Today's bagels are three times the size and 210 more calories than the "normal" bagel was 20 years ago.

Additionally, it's not only food portions that have increased, so have the plates and cups that we use. Twenty years ago the normal plate size was 9 or 10 inches. Today a 9 inch plate is reserved for our salad or appetizer and our dinner is served on a 12 inch plate. The larger the plate, the more likely you are to consume larger portions. A study from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that people who were given larger containers and utensils, served themselves larger portions and consumed the whole serving.

To help you visual the "super size" portions many of us are consuming today, take a look at the below images adapted from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Portion Distortion Quiz.

We have compiled a sample of the typical DINING OUT choices many make:

Restaurant	Food Item	Calories	Fat (grams)
Panera Bread	Frontega Chicken Panin on Rosemary/Onion Focaccia	860	42
Ruby Tuesday	Turkey Burger	815	45
Ruby Tuesday	Veggie Burger	610	28
Sbarro Pizza	1 slice (thin crust) (only cheese)	460	13
Sbarro Pizza	1 slice pepperoni	730	37
Outback	Bloomin Onion with Dressing	2310	134
McDonalds	Quarter Pounder w/Cheese	510	26
Chili's	Chicken Chopped Salad (not including dressing)	750	53
Chili's	Shrimp Ceasar Salad w/dressing	908	77
Chili's	Chicken Ceasar Salad w/dressing	1010	76
	CALORIES FROM BEVERAGES
Starbucks	Gingerbread Latte w/Milk and whip cream (16oz)	350	17
Starbucks	Cafe Mocha w/whip and whole milk (16oz)	360	19
Starbucks	Eggnog Latte	480	22
Coca-cola	12 oz	150	0
Dunkin Donuts	Coffee with Cream & Sugar SMALL (10oz)	120	6
Dunkin Donuts	Caramel Swirl Latte SMALL (10oz)	220	6
Dunkin Donuts	White Hot Chocolate SMALL (10oz)	340	13

OK THEN..... take a look at what a typical day of food purchases could look like:

Breakfast: Starbucks: gingerbread latte (16oz) = 350 calories; 15 g fat
Lunch:       going "healthy" Turkey Burger (no fries) = 815 calories; 28 g fat
Dinner:      "healthy again" picked up Chili's chopped salad = 750 calories; 53 g fat

Check it out!

one morning coffee

a turkey burger at lunch

dinner a salad from Chili's

Total calories consumed for only THREE items in the day.... 1,915 and Total fat grams: 96!

Keep in mind, the menu above doesn't even include actual breakfast foods you might desire. Any snacks in the day, drinks, juices or even the dressing on that salad at dinner? Remember the average person on a "healthy" food plan should only consume anywhere from 1500-2000 calories a day (however, calories can alter and depend on activity level, this is an average caloric intake). Therefore, if it takes 3,500 calories to equal one pound, you can see how quickly the pounds can add up.

Now, eating healthy doesn't mean eliminating these kinds of foods altogether. It is all about understanding how to make healthier choices and eating an "appropriate" portion.

Yes...There is The Good News!

Many food establishments now offer nutritional information about their food items and even highlight "healthy choices" on the menu. In addition, most places allow you to make healthier substitutions, such as replace fries with vegetables, exclude the bun, grilled instead of fried or even order a "half portion". Which as you just learned is closer to a normal serving size.

Wellness Tip: Make an attempt to eat out less; allowing you more control of your portions and ingredients. When at home, plate your food before you sit to eat instead of having the serving platters on the table. You will tend to eat less if there are no second helpings in front of you. Start eating dinner off of salad plates, this way you willl tend to decrease your portion size. Eating out? Look online at the menu before you go out to see what your options are and try to plan ahead. Don't skip meals, you are likely to overeat, especially when you eat out. Ask your server for a "to go container" and package half your food when your meal arrives. If you are like me, it's hard not to eat all the food on your plate! This way it's out of site out of mind (and mouth!). Finally, choose a appetizer as your meal, or share a meal with your companion.

Ciao for now!
Jeannine

Sources:
Centers for Disease Control

The daily plate

Diet Bites

Dunkin Donuts

National Restuaurant Association

Starbucks

Subway

Posted by Jeannine Capria at Friday, December 18. 2009