You shouldn't eat so much

Do you ever think to yourself that the bowl of pasta you're eating at your favorite Italian Restaurant could double as a serving dish for a table of eight? How about wondering if the three pounds of Caesar salad you eat every day for lunch is actually as healthy as you think? According to a recent study of Americans over age 18, most people think they can eat as much as they want because the amount of food they eat is less important than the type of food they?re eating. With that in mind, 62 percent of those surveyed were above their ideal weight needing to loose between six to 20 pounds.

According to many nutritionists and current health reports, portion sizes in restaurants and the amount of take-out food per portion is to blame. It's so easy for Americans to lose track and be completely unaware that the restaurant portions and takeout orders have increased so significantly in size. The meals we are typically served on restaurant plates are considered by the FDA to be enormous, and they are reportedly getting bigger. Even the actual size of the plates is getting bigger. With all the hype about "super-sizing" and getting your money's worth, it is often hard to focus on questions like how much of the meal you should eat, or how much, if any, should you take home.

Now most people I know rarely measure out their food and even fewer check out the nutrition facts food labels in order to determine how large a portion they should consume. They mostly just determine how much to eat based on how hungry they are at a given time. This isn't necessarily a bad way to gauge yourself if you can actually stop yourself when you start to feel full. Some people who fall victim to the size increase are those who decide how much to eat based on how much they are served. This clearly leads to overeating, and is usually caused by not knowing how much a standard serving size is.

For example, a standard serving could be one cup cereal, 1/2 cup cooked vegetables, 1/2 cup fruit salad, 1/2 cup mashed potatoes or one cup of green salad. So though it may seem a bit odd, it could be helpful to take a few minutes to measure that cup of pasta or cereal so that you will have a better concept the next time. Another helpful way to measure, as odd as it may sound is to check out the lovely tray of airplane food a bit closer the next time you fly. Their dinner selections, shockingly, are the healthy standard portions. A few other helpful hints could be to share an entre with a friend (which is also economical), take half of the meal you order home or to just order a half portion right from the start.

It's pretty obvious that as a society we are utterly obsessed with eating low-fat foods. It is also apparent that we often lose sight of all those fattening "empty" calories that high-carbohydrate foods contain. It is so easy to get a distorted view of health with so much emphasis on fat over the last few years. The key is a healthier way of life overall, which includes watching your portion sizes, as well as getting exercise and eating as balanced a diet as possible.