Portion Control

“HUGE” – That’s the word to describe the confusion about portion sizes (as well as the portions themselves). One example: A sports arena in the Midwest sells an 8-inch bun piled high with five 1/3-pound beef patties, chili, chips, and cheese that weighs in at 4,800 calories.

 

As restaurants pump up their serving sizes, we reflexively reset our default for what is normal, according to Brian Wansink, PhD, Cooking Light Nutrition Essentials advisory panelist and director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab. Bigger portion sizes (with more calories and possible saturated ft or sodium) likely entice you to eat more, says Wansink. Yet for maintaining your weight, eating proper portions is key.

TIPS to help with portion control.

• The easiest way to control what you eat is to cook at home, where you can plate a sensible amount.

Choose right-size plates. On overscaled china, your healthful portion may seem skimpy.

As you serve meals, measure individual portions of difficult-to-judge foods like pasta.

When you eat out, finish half your entrée, then bring home the rest to enjoy later.

-Kathy Kitchens Downie, RD

Five Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

“Metabolism” is the name of the bodily system that converts food calories to energy needed to perform various tasks, like pumping oxygen to muscles during a long walk. Many variables contribute to your metabolism, including heredity, gender and age. But you can quicken yours; here’s how.

Exercise more. When you walk, run, or lift weights, you increase the energy required of your body, which raises your metabolism then, and for hours afterward.

“It’s not a huge spike, but it makes a difference,” says Gary Miller, PhD, associate professor of health and exercise science at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Read more