Portion sizes

It would be nice to have a doctor come right into our homes. THey do cooking on some of the doctor shows. Dr. Oz and another one I can't think of its name right now. And doctors used to make house calls years ago. Not anymore. I would hate to get that bill!

Hi Anne, I'm not a big believer in any "proper" portion size. I have heard stories where if you serve on smaller plates, the portions appear bigger. But as far as I am concerned, I don't eat with my eyes (not much nutrition in that), and I don't want some "expert" telling me what my stomach does a good job of. When I'm full, my stomach sends a signal to my brain to tell my arm to stop raising food to my mouth, and to stop masticating. Besides for whom are these portions proper? If you examine two 90 kilo males, and one is a bicycle messenger and the other is an accountant, the bike messenger will burn more calories in 8 hours that need to be restored. So which one is considered proper? And if you limit your portion size and the person is still hungry, would that not entice them to snack on other food? Pretty much I don't agree when the "experts" tell me something is good for me. Life is hazardous to your health, that's a known fact. And the experts seem to have a different opinion every day. And the experts know this anyway, that is why the line "the practice of medicine is not an exact science" is present on every medical consent form. The experts also have a track record of being wrong. William Conrad Roentgen discovered X-ray in 1895. Does a great job of imaging bone, and some "experts" used it for other things, like curing ringworm and measuring feet for shoe fit. Oh, then they found out x-radiation causes cancer....oops..better stop using it for treating ringworm. I need doctors for treating any medical condition that may arise, but when they start showing up at my dinner table uninvited, I have a real problem with that! Anyway now that I am done ranting...nice to hear from you again Anne!

I try to limit my portion sizes if I can when I eat because I really don't want to gain weight again. I was once overweight and obese, and I never want to go back to that.

There are actually plates that have dividers or lines for portion sizes of various foods. In the US they are using a picture of a plate as a guide for choosing the right portions.

I agree with you that portion size is something we need to control... and I learned this in a big way when I went to Weight Watchers years ago. I think the reason a lot of people don't do well with portion control is because it can be such a hassle. When you have to weigh or measure things, it takes even more time to get a meal on the table. In WW, they taught us to eyeball food... as others have said, a meat/protein portion would be about the size of a deck of standard playing cards. Make a fist and that is approximately one portion of fruit (so, when they say to have one apple, it's not an apple the size of a bowling ball ). If we can use these simple techniques, we might not be getting an EXACT portion but we will certainly be a lot closer than just filling up our plates without thinking. One of the areas people seem to have the most trouble controlling portions is starches... rice, pasta, etc. I mean, a portion or serving size of cooked pasta is actually 1/2 cup. Try putting 1/2 cup of cooked spaghetti on a dinner plate and see if that looks like your idea of a meal That's why places like WW encourage us to put a correct portion of meat on the plate and fill the rest as much as we want with veggies or salad. We eat with our eyes just as much as our stomachs ... and a full plate looks like "oh wow, I'm having a lot to eat!"

that is why i like the biggest loser show they are always talking about portion size and on some occasions they will bring the great chef curtis stone in and he will teach on these subjects and he is very good at it.. i know portion size counts when trying to lose weight i am trying to cut back on portion size now..

How about if get a plate like I had when I was little with the sections in it? That way I would know the right size. Or, sometimes, I just use a smaller plate so it will look fuller and I will eat less.

When my mother was still alive, her doctor would advise her that her meat portions should be no bigger than a matchbox. My mother, out of her good humor, asked him what kind of matchbox since we do have the big boxes and not the small ones here. The doctor laughed and said, okay, the size of your ATM card then. I don't believe in portioning. I am more into common sense when it comes to food. Imagine having a family of four and you're the cook and you have to measure and scoop each plate just to adhere to what is recommended by nutritionists. Food is meant to nourish. We get fat when we abuse food and more often than not, we know when we have had enough. We just don't stop. This is where the common sense comes in. You know how many calories a piece of fried chicken is, but you eat more than two pieces (plus all the sides). Then you add dessert. Imagine how many calories that is. I think the portion sizes are just a guide. It's still up to us to really "portion" what we eat.

hi anne I think if you go to AmericanDiabetesAssc.org you can find pictures of a plate with the proper sized portions of meat, veggies fru it and bread. a portion of meat we are taught is the size of a deck of playing cards.as I remember also we were taught to divide our plate in fourths and meat was one fourtth,bread one foruthl,fruit and veggie the other two fourhts of the plate. There is a lot of things about food in the diabetes site that workd for anyone. the diabetic diet is the same diet we are all told to eat for health sakes. strong on veggies and fruits,lean meat, and whole grain bread.fruits preferably for desserts.

It's actually quite easy. Buy a kitchen scale. Also as a rule, half the plate should be veggies, 1/4 of the plate starches and 1/4 protein. A normal serving of protein is the size of a deck of cards or the palm of your hand. You can eat all the veggies you want. Veggies are healthy, full of fiber and low in calories.

I try and watch portion sizes, but can't always do it. It would be nice to have someone come in and do it for me. Some labels will say the portion should be 1/4 cup or something like that and I am too lazy to measure it out. Also some labels will say calories per serving, but the serving is half of a candy bar. Who eats half? Not me that's for sure.

that is a really nice suggestion. However, it would be even better if the cook comes in at no cost!

Well so nice if the doctor came to my house and cook and prepare food for us.It is nice thing to do and very appreciated.

they put to much on portion sizes just eat more fruits and veg's and less starch and sugar and meat and portion sizes will not matter.

It would be great, except the doctors don't have a clue! LOL!!! They make all these informed statements about how we should eat and what we should eat and then a few weeks later they change their minds. I recently went to a new doctor (my clinic goes through them like most people go through Kleenex) and of course we discussed the medications and other things I am taking. I take vitamins too, and confessed that to the doctor. He sat there and LAUGHED at me. I was informed that I was NOT to take anymore vitamins as I get them in my food; and that vitamins are a total waste of money. The doctor before him told me to take calcium and Vitamin D to name a couple. The next doctor I saw was my pain doctor. During the pre-visit update I told them that I wasn't taking the vitamins anymore. The doctor came in, saw that and had a fit!!! He promptly told me to get back on the vitamins and stay on them no matter what. It's the same thing with portion sizes. What one doctor would consider the right size the next one would think it was either too big or two small. With the medical profession you can't win for losing! The other thing is the doctors who aren't married are the ones you find in various restaurants chowing down on the most awful food that they wouldn't recommend to their patients. I think doctors take a class on being "important" and sounding "important". They're the ones that I like to pull the rug out from under. I've done it to many doctors during my life and will continue to do it to the rest of the medical profession as long as I can do it.

Yes it would be nice. But if we could go to that extreme we best hope we also don't have anything further in our home, to avoid temptation as we are so used to bigger portions. This in a way is why I stopped watching Oprah years ago as she was sharing her diet secrets about how her personal chef makes this or that for her. I don't have a personal chef to cook healthy or smack my hand any time I wonder into the kitchen when it's meal time, I don't have that kind of money.

I am not sure many of the doctors that I know would even know where to start in cooking healthy meals! lol!They eat on the run so much or have their wives cook it! They may not know - but I would like for a nutritionist or someone like Jillian Michaels to come do that for me for a day or two!

I think it's interesting how different our eating habits have become over the past century. Fast food has especially made matters worse for eating. It seems that "super sized" meals are turning up everywhere. Not to mention the fact that restaurants have meals with loaded calories. I think it would be a good idea for restaurants to serve half-portions or lunch portions all day so that people don't have massive amounts of food sitting in front of them. On the other hand, I think schools need to start teaching portion control in health classes during school.

I wonder if that ideal portion is really what someone needs. But i agree it would be good to know what they mean by a portion. I heard that one portion of food should be equal to the size of everyone's own fist or palm. But I never tried how much it is actually.

We have to be the judge of all that and have a balance view of what a meal has to be, if you are spending the same amount of energy we are eating in a day noboday would get fat.