Dinner Plates and Real Portions

According to www.health-and-age.org dinner plates have increased in size over the past few decades. I'm not sure if that's because we need to eat more or are too lazy to go to the counter for second helpings---at least we'd get more exercise that way.
The plates have increased in surface area by almost 50 percent. Do we really need that much more food?
My family ate at a bar-b-que joint a few days ago. I wanted the ribs and chicken combination as I like ribs but know that the fat to protein ration is off the charts on ribs. So when my meal arrived I asked for a box. When the box arrived I cut my meal in half and put half of it away for another meal later that week. Actually, my son and I ate what was left over for a lunch--A full lunch.
What was surprising about the meal were the expressions on the face of our waiter when I 1. ordered my baked potato plain; and 2. ordered the to-go box before the meal. I could have ordered cheese, chili, bacon, sour cream and butter for my potato and they indeed had a loaded potato on the menu. A loaded potato provides 100 percent of fat requirements for a day and 25 percent of calories for the day, if you eat 2,000 calories. A plain baked potato has 300 fewer calories, and if you cut it in half you save 400 calories from one side-dish.....WOW!!!
We found some plates which are at least two inches smaller to control portions and have started cutting down recipies so there are just four portions-just right for our family.
Next up healthy snack ideas from a nine-year-old.

Eating to live or living to eat

I can't tell you how many times growing up I asked my mom right after a meal "what's for dinner tomorrow?" I could not satisfy my craving for food. But food was a comfort for us. If we had a good day we celebrated by eating. Bad day-we ate. Blah day-we ate.

What I am trying to instill in my boys early on in life is to eat when hungry. We are becoming more strict about eating snacks while watching television or driving in the car. Too many times we are like automatons dipping our hands into a snack bag and continuing to eat until whatever it is, is gone.

My wife uses a measuring cup when she pours cereal in the morning. I measured my bag dump and I had three servings!

If you want to take control of your life focus on portion control. Read the box, measure out or count out one serving. Eat that and wait for a while. If you're still hungry....measure out a half serving and eat that.

Next up...What is the size of your dinner plate and what is it doing to your waistline?