Thu, 15 May 2008 14:24:00
Portion Size and weight loss
I’m the last person to blame hormones, glands or the food undustry for “making” me or anyone else fat. let me say that right off the bat. 99.95% of us fatsos are fat because we eat too much and move too little and that’s the truth of it. But…
How did we get here? In part, this picture essay explains some of it. I know that you have all heard a parent or grandparent telling you to clean your plate. I don’t know if parents still use this one, but back in the day I would get that “There are kids starving in China” line.
Train kids to clean their plates and you end up with adults that do it out of habit and/or compulsion. Couple that with the “more food is a better bargain” mentality and the propensity for larger and larger portion sizes, add in a dash of suburban sprawl forcing us to drive everywhere, take away any physical labor required to gather massive amounts of food and bing bang boom, you have a nation of sedentary, fat bastards.
I think the thing that illustrates the problem - moreso than the burger or pizza images, is the soda.
Who ever needs that much soda? I spent most of my life literally thinking that I was an idiot to even consider the smaller amount. It just doesn’t make sense on a cost-per-ounce basis, right? Whatta bahgain! 64 ounces for just ten cents more! Meanwhile the cost of fountain soda is so low that the only reason most places bother charging for it is because the cup is so expensive. The cost, for them, of 32 ounces of soda versus 64 ounces is probably less than two cents, if it’s even that. It makes good business sense to trick the consumer into thinking it’s a bargain. That’s where the “finish your plate” mentality comes in. We’ve paid for it now, it would be senseless to waste it.
The way to fight this is first to be aware of it. The second is to take the smaller option. You are not an idiot for choosing the smallest portion possible. Sometimes I get McDonalds for Donna as I am coming home from the gym. One out of every four times or so, I order a small fry for myself. Is it the best deal per fry? I don’t know, nor do I care. what I know is, I love fries, and I want fries, but it only makes sense to have a small amount that can easily be metabolized. So that’s what I get.
Smart decisions. That’s what it comes down to. Don’t let the bastards get you down - or fatter. They’ll sell you as much as you are willing to buy, and you know what? They’re right to try. Caveat Emptor, people. The only way you become an idiot in this game is if you fork over your money for the big stuff because it’s a “better deal.”
Buy enough food to stop you from being hungry, eat it slowly and then stop when you aren’t hungry anymore. That alone will transform your body. No real work required. Think smart, buy less, eat slowly.
It’s not rocket science.
Posted by JimK at 02:24 PM on May 15, 2008
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Categories: Personal, Recipes and Food
Tags:
weight loss,
portions,
food
Technorati: weight loss portions
Comments:
#2 Posted by CaptainAwesome 
on 05/15 at 06:11 PM -
I’m 26 and I got the same line growing up, except it was children in Africa, not China.
Speaking of exercise, I’m thinking of buying Wii Fit. I actually like to work out (I’m trying to gain weight) but I do need to do more cardio stuff. I like to lift far more than I like to run. The only real reason I run is I know it’s healthy. It does help to treat it like a videogame though: I want to beat my scores. Wii Fit seems perfect for that.
It’s such a pain to keep yourself healthy. My friend I lift with is a big guy and he’s always on me about eating more--like 1500 calories more a day--but the problem is the foods I need to eat to gain muscle will also, obviously, give me a little more fat, especially in the gut since it tends to pool there for guys. Why couldn’t we have evolved so that eating chocolate and sugar would be like eating vegetables?
#3 Posted by Astronomizer on 05/15 at 08:01 PM -
Lol---"Whatta bahgain.” I say this (in Eddie’s voice) to my friends and they have no clue what I’m talking about.
“Twenty-nine cents! Whatta bahgain!”
“Twenty-nine cents? That is a bargain. Yes, this is a bargain for me. I think I will buy some.”
Then again, my friends all know I’m a strangeoid....
#4 Posted by ErikTheRed on 05/15 at 08:24 PM -
Easier for me - I don’t eat fast food and seldom drink soda :-)
#5 Posted by supercore on 05/15 at 10:04 PM -
Another way to look at it is, consider the economic scale of most of the people that you would consider FAT. I don’t know any statistics on it, but I would bet money that the obesity level is greater in people the less affluent they are. They do see the value in spending the extra 30 cents on the large fry because they figure they need to get the most calories for their money. Speaking from experience, I put on 30lbs in 3 months when I went on my first tour because we were all in a bad way financially and I wanted to get as much food as I possibly could for my money and no way in hell was I going to let any of it go to waste. Just my personal experience though.
#6 Posted by Drumwaster on 05/16 at 12:12 PM -
That Ultra Big Gulp ain’t got nothin’ on this.
When your beverage containers are large enough to drown household pets, it’s time to scale back a bit, methinks.
#7 Posted by Sean Galbraith 
on 05/19 at 11:15 PM -
I like the perimeter diet… stick to foods primarily along the perimeter of the grocery store. That’s where all the fresh foods are. And anything with a health or nutrition claim? Skip it.
Of course, I completely ignore this entirely in practice. :)
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Oh sure, when you say it all logically and shit who am I going to blame? I can’t be a victim with this!
Noooooooo....