Trim your Portion Size to Trim your Weight

My copy of Lisa R. Young’s book, The Portion Teller just arrived. In the early reading I am not surprised that she has received the adulation that covers her resume. I recounted some of these in The Portion Teller on May 20.

On page 12 of the book she makes the profound point that “people eat in units.” A cookie, sandwich, order of fries, no matter the unit most people will eat the entire unit regardless of the size.

“Think about it,” she writes. “How often do you take just a few bites of an ice cream cone, a burger, or a hot dog a put the rest aside?…Or, how about a soda – do you regularly cap a half-drunk bottle and keep it for another day?”

She makes a similar point on second helpings. Most folks would never order a second helping of something, but have no problem buying a medium of anything. And, a medium is usually twice the size of a single small serving.

Who doesn’t remember being told as a child, “Eat everything on your plate. There are people starving in … (name your country here).” “Finish your dinner. It’s a sin to waste food!”

Sadly, these days, it has become a mortal sin to waist food as so many people are doing with 60% of us overweight and 30% obese.