University Studies have measured how much serving sizes have grown in calories in key food groups.

Salty snacks have increased by almost 100 calories per portion, soft drinks by 50 calories, and everyone’s favorite, hamburgers increased by more than 100 calories.

Restaurants are also trying to provide better service to their customers by serving larger portion sizes.

Studies show we eat more calories when given more.

The bigger portions that restaurants are providing make us consumers vulnerable to overeating since most of us eat all or most of what we are served.

Fortunately, those same studies also show that we still feel satisfied when we are served fewer calories.

There is an alternative to reducing our portion size to reduce the calories we consume.

We can increase our portion sizes and reduce the calories we eat. It’s all in what portions we increase. Remember it’s all about the calories, not just portion sizes.

 

Portion Size Tips, Tricks & Techniques

• • Portion sizes have increased in restaurants and fast food venues on a major scale over the last several decades.
  • We self-serve ourselves larger portions in the home than we used to.
  • When more food is put in front of us, we almost always eat more.
  • Most people underestimate how many calories they are eating.
  • Keep the portion sizes generous, but decrease the energy density (calories per unit of volume) in the foods you put on your plate.
  • Eat more low-calorie density foods, especially green vegetables, salad vegetables, and other fibrous carbs, as well as very lean proteins, to maintain a feeling of fullness while reducing energy intake.
  • Large portions of highly nutritious, low-calorie foods displaced the less nutritious, calorie-dense foods.

 

How To Turn Super Sizing, Dietary Displacement, and Portion Distortion To Your Advantage!
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS

Ever since the independent film, Super Size Me was released, research on the relationship between increasing obesity and increasing portion sizes has skyrocketed and the results have been virtually unanimous.

There have been numerous well-designed studies published just in the last several years that confirmed exactly what we suspected (and much of what the movie suggested):

• • Portion sizes have increased in restaurants and fast food venues on a major scale over the last several decades.
  • We self-serve ourselves larger portions in the home than we used too.
  • When more food is put in front of us, we almost always eat more.
  • most people underestimate how many calories they are eating.
  • All of these factors have contributed to the growing obesity problem and the related health problems that come along with it.

The obvious solution would seem to be to decrease portion sizes across the board, and indeed awareness of and control over portion sizes in general is important.

However, research has demonstrated that perhaps an even better solution is to keep the portion sizes generous, but decrease the energy density (calories per unit of volume) in the foods you put on your plate.

Several studies revealed that eating more low-calorie density foods, especially green vegetables, salad vegetables, and other fibrous carbs, as well as very lean proteins, maintains a feeling of fullness while reducing energy intake.

In other words, large portions of highly nutritious, low-calorie foods displaced the less nutritious, calorie-dense foods! Most people allow the bad foods to push out the good foods, but you can do the same in reverse!

In a study published in the Journal of The American Dietetic Association, researchers fed one group a compulsory first-course salad which was kept low in energy density by using very low-calorie dressing with no high-calorie toppings no bacon, cheese or croutons, etc).

After the salad, the subjects were allowed to eat as much pasta as they wanted.

A second group was also allowed to eat as much pasta as they wanted but was not given a compulsory salad to eat beforehand.

The results: As you might guess, eating a low-energy-density first course enhanced satiety (fullness) and reduced the overall amount of calories that were eaten during the whole meal.

Since the research has repeatedly discovered that almost everyone will eat more when served larger portions from a larger plate or container, and there is a serious issue of “portion distortion” occurring, another group of scientists and psychologists decided to test this even further by providing larger plates or containers of low energy density, high nutrient density foods before the main course and or in between meals.

When more of the low-energy density foods were made available first, the subjects ate even more of these healthy foods, which filled them up even more and decreased the amount of high-calorie density foods eaten in the main course.

Reporting their findings in the Journal of Nutrition Education And Behavior, the researchers said that there is a silver lining to all the negative findings about super-sized portions and overeating that we have discovered in recent years:

That is, although we eat more when more is put in front of us, We can use this phenomenon in reverse by serving large plates, bowls, or containers of healthy, low-energy-density foods like fruits, salads, and raw vegetables as snacks and first courses.

“While a small bowl of raw carrots might make for a good afternoon snack”, said one of the researchers, “a large bowl might even be better.”

You can learn more about calorie density, low energy density foods (thermogenic foods), and choosing your portion and meal sizes with precision inside the Burn The Fat book.

 

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to burn fat without drugs or supplements using the little-known secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models.