Serving Size? Is your serving size bigger than the package?

Ah ha! Today I stumbled across this interesting article about serving size. Being a chef and all this is actually one of my biggest pet peeves! Serving size? Is your serving size bigger than the package?

Ever read the serving size in the back of a food package? Ever drink a 20 oz. beverage and realize that the serving size was 2.5 servings? Makes you wonder if the food companies are miss leading or if the consumers are demanding more. Should there be a push to have the serving size match the container size especially for grab and go drinks?

We are fooling ourselves every time we consume a per-packaged items. We are always eating more than what is considered a portion size. Do you think this is the cause of our obesity? Do we know what we should be consuming or do we leave it to the food industry to decide for us?

They always say breakfast is the most important meal of the day and this is true. When you eat breakfast you are giving your body the beginning fuel for the day. They have even done studies that show that kids that eat breakfast are more likely to do better in school than kids that skip breakfast. A healthy breakfast would be less sugar-coated cereal, fruit, eggs, oatmeal, something to help jump-start the system. I know growing up Mom didn’t buy sugary cereal… we just ended up adding regular sugar ourselves. Nothing like a bowl of Cheerios’ with a light sprinkle of sugar to start the morning. In the end this may have been healthier then the sugar cereals. Recommend keeping breakfast healthy and small on portion size

Everyone talks about having a light lunch but in my opinion I think you should have a hearty lunch (I didn’t say heavy)  and a light dinner. The reason behind this. Well what do you do after lunch normally? For kids they are off to finish the day at school and then attend an outside activity? Mom’s also tend to be really active after lunch. Picking the kids up, running all over town. We need energy to get through our day and lunch plays a big part of that.  On average a balanced meal would consist of 6 ounces of protein, 4 ounces of a starch, and 8 ounces of vegetables/fruit. From a Chef perspective this is a balanced meal. (Heck, I would say that add dessert at this time of day… better chance of working off the calories!)

Dinner tends to be the splurging time because most of us don’t eat breakfast, skip lunch  and the next meal we have it at night. For me this tends to be late at night. So consuming 12 ounces of steak right before bed may not be the best thing to do. So I do my best to eat at least before 6pm and have nothing the rest of the night. This can be tough some nights.

But dinner should be healthy and a lighter protein. Leave the steak to lunch and have more chicken and fish for dinner. Serving size for dinner protein is going to be the same as lunch at 6 ounces.  Continue to make fruit and vegetables important and watch how much starch you are consuming.

Remember this… Your stomach is only as big as your fist… How much do you really need to eat to fill that up? I say we start demanding better portion control from our restaurants and banish buffets! (I know, I just got yelled at by someone) As for beverages of convenience… get to like the taste of water. Your body is made up of 90% water… Might as well give it what it needs, cause from what I understand my body is not made up of “high fructose corn syrup”.

My overall suggestion… start making our own meals instead of buying them. Portion out beverages to correct serving size. You will see an amazing difference in your health and energy level.

These are just my thoughts and opinions. If you agree or disagree with any of them… please comment below. Would love to hear from you!

Cheers to Your Optimal Health!

Katrina van Oudheusden

This was the article that fueled this blog…

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/serving-sizes/MY01311/rss=10