My wife and I have gotten to the point of either sharing one entree or getting a couple appetizers...we're usually in a situation where we can't box the food anyway and the portions are too large otherwise.
portion sizes
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gone down south
When I first moved to the US, I was appalled by the practice of getting a doggie bag at the end of a meal - that just reeked of old ladies loading up their purses at the buffet line! It's not a common tradition in other countries, and it's definitely not a sign of being a sophisticated diner 
Then I started to see how much food is stacked on the plates in a typical restaurant and it all made sense. My wife can sometimes get lunch the next day AND a snack out of your average entree.
Then I started to see how much food is stacked on the plates in a typical restaurant and it all made sense. My wife can sometimes get lunch the next day AND a snack out of your average entree.
My guess is that this stems (for those of us over 30 anyway) from growing up in less-affluent times, and when not wasting hard-earned food dollars resulted in the regular dinnertime mantra from Mom, "finish what's on your plate, there are starving kids in China!"
"Well then let them eat it!"
Yeah, that didn't go over well. Though it was the last time that argument was made
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+1 Sorely needed on my end!
I agree. I'm happy to get dinner with enough left over for lunch or dinner the next day. With prices and the economy what they are, I like to get a little bang for my buck.
Any time I travel to an international country I realize how big portions are here in the North America. Much of the food is wasted if not consumed.
I would hope we could control ourselves a little better or atleast serve right size portions.
Bigger does not mean better.
I would hope we could control ourselves a little better or atleast serve right size portions.
Bigger does not mean better.
Portion control was the first hurdle I had to overcome in my personal "Battle of the Bulge". It can get totally out of control. I try to stick to the "closed fist = one portion", roughly.
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One problem a lot of people have is eating too fast too. People get so hungry that by the time the meal comes, they've already scarfed down 3/4ths of it before they start to feel hungry.
People need to take time and enjoy the food. Savor it it, chew it, just take your time. You'll soon realize that you're getting full way before you've eaten most of these jumbo portions.
People need to take time and enjoy the food. Savor it it, chew it, just take your time. You'll soon realize that you're getting full way before you've eaten most of these jumbo portions.
Here in the midwest portions are filppin huge the term small steak just dont fly and if you look at what a serving is for steak and then you look at what we get they are no where near the same animal.
My mother in law lives in assisted living and it's the same there - the meals are enormous. The quality is quite decent too - often roast lamb, turkey or fish with a selection of vegetables and sides. No one eats close to half of what's served so enough food to feed a a good parts of a 3rd world country gets dumped every mealtime. It's an expensive place to stay there, so I figure that its costed in and cheaper than offering seconds.
If there's any doubt about the whether or not portion size is an issue, just think about the pricey steak on the menu at a restaurant. Generally, we're talking 12+ oz sometimes a lot more. 4 ounces of very lean meat is a serving, and given the preparation, I dunno if it's fair to count a restaurant steak as being as "lean" as a well trimmed, grilled chicken breast. Already we're talking about 3-4 servings worth of meat (adjusting for fat content) in a sitting and even the FDA recommends no more than 3 in a whole day.
As to the cause of the problem, I think it's as simple as we as a nation got rich and started eating meat, and then when nutritionists advocated sticking to complex carbs it became an add-on. Well, I can have this steak, as long as I'm good and have these nutritious carbs with it. Same happened with vegetables and fruit: "I'll have a big delicious breakfast, and then a grapefruit and some OJ for my heart". And the same thing happened with high-protein, high-fiber backlash against carbs. For whatever reason, maybe political, few people spoke and said "no, I meant instead not in addition".
I went to a Christopher Cook lecture once and he seemed to have some interesting ideas on this (I never read his books, YMMV). Basically such-and-such lobby is too influential for a food to be explicitly blackballed, so the FDA instead approaches it as showing the contrast between healthy food and unhealthy. All that does is make us view it as eating enough good food to absolve us from eating whatever bad food we want. When really the optimization problem is to eat the right amount, AND THEN worry about making that food healthy.
As to the cause of the problem, I think it's as simple as we as a nation got rich and started eating meat, and then when nutritionists advocated sticking to complex carbs it became an add-on. Well, I can have this steak, as long as I'm good and have these nutritious carbs with it. Same happened with vegetables and fruit: "I'll have a big delicious breakfast, and then a grapefruit and some OJ for my heart". And the same thing happened with high-protein, high-fiber backlash against carbs. For whatever reason, maybe political, few people spoke and said "no, I meant instead not in addition".
I went to a Christopher Cook lecture once and he seemed to have some interesting ideas on this (I never read his books, YMMV). Basically such-and-such lobby is too influential for a food to be explicitly blackballed, so the FDA instead approaches it as showing the contrast between healthy food and unhealthy. All that does is make us view it as eating enough good food to absolve us from eating whatever bad food we want. When really the optimization problem is to eat the right amount, AND THEN worry about making that food healthy.
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Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let's leave those juicy, over-sized steaks out of this. Have you ever tried just eating 4 oz of steak? Might as well try getting full off of Tic-Tacs.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBko_3wT44Q[/YOUTUBE]
Our Mom told us the same thing, but they weren't just kids (adults too) and they were from South America.
Several years ago while at lunch with a fellow employee who happens to be from Columbia, South America, we were discussing this very subject. "Our Mom always told us we had to clean our plates because there were starving people in South America". He responded with, "Our Mom told us we had to clean our plates because in America, they think we're going around hungry!"
I just about blew the food in my mouth all over the table from laughing!"Well then let them eat it!"
Yeah, that didn't go over well. Though it was the last time that argument was made
If we had told our Mom that, we would have been smacked backwards out of our chairs and found ourselves getting up off the floor wondering what had happened! Our Mom didn't stand for backtalk of any type!
I think most restaurants serve way too much. My husband and I only order one meal and an appetizer him, our son and myself and the girls split a kids meal. We usually still have leftovers.
It's pretty much the same up here in Canada, too.
(True story ... there once was a local restaurant that 'spe......ed' in pasta ... lots and lots of pasta. Not 'good' or 'tasty' pasta, but lots of it! In fact, finishing your plate was something of a challenge, and if you DID finish your plate, they'd give you a second half-order for free.)
I think one of the biggest problems is that, when we eat, there's a big time in between when we no longer "feel hungry" and when we finally "feel full". We tend to think that we ought to eat until we 'feel full' rather than stop when we've had enough to no longer feel hungry.
And yeah, the big portions prevent the 'ripped off' feeling. Let's say it costs a restaurant $5 to bring an empty plate to your table ... wages, overhead, profit, stuff like that. So they can put $5 of food on your plate for $10 or they can put $10 of food on your plate for $15 ... hey look I got twice as much food for only $5 more!!
(True story ... there once was a local restaurant that 'spe......ed' in pasta ... lots and lots of pasta. Not 'good' or 'tasty' pasta, but lots of it! In fact, finishing your plate was something of a challenge, and if you DID finish your plate, they'd give you a second half-order for free.)
I think one of the biggest problems is that, when we eat, there's a big time in between when we no longer "feel hungry" and when we finally "feel full". We tend to think that we ought to eat until we 'feel full' rather than stop when we've had enough to no longer feel hungry.
And yeah, the big portions prevent the 'ripped off' feeling. Let's say it costs a restaurant $5 to bring an empty plate to your table ... wages, overhead, profit, stuff like that. So they can put $5 of food on your plate for $10 or they can put $10 of food on your plate for $15 ... hey look I got twice as much food for only $5 more!!
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